Archive for the ‘Television’ Category

3 Movies and a TV Show

Friday, August 6th, 2010

1. Have you ever given up on a movie 6 minutes in? Me neither, until Whatever Works. Actually I almost gave up when I saw the director credit, but instead I sat through Larry David’s horrific opening monologue.

Then I FF’ed to minute 7, in which David’s character is having an excruciating and possible-only-in-the-mind-of-Woody-Allen-and-nowhere-in-reality conversation with his wife.

Bloop-bloop! Back to Roku’s Home Menu.

2. Under the Tuscan Sun. I was too ashamed to see this movie in the theater or even on DVD, but Roku, my Roku, light of my life, fire of my loins, okay not really but still, you have changed everything. And I do  love the real estate porn.

However and except. UTS is not so much Real Estate Fantasy as Everything Fantasy, also known as  a heaping pile of horse dung, in which it is possible to mend your broken heart simply by making a bad investment in another country and in which every incident is so highly romanticized that it couldn’t happen to anyone—except, possibly, I realized when making this very assertion to John a couple of days ago, to my dear friend Sarah. (Hi, Sarah!)

Of course, I didn’t stop watching it. Curse you, buttery Tuscan light!

3. Paper Heart. Sweet, cute, and even a little pensive. More than I thought it would be, but still not terribly much. But something. Definitely something.

4. When I read about  BBC America’s series The Choir, I instantly pre-smiled in anticipation of all the tender and triumphant moments we would share. And protagonist Gareth Malone is indeed adorable.

But! He makes painful and arguably unnecessary cuts TWICE during the course of the year, he shames the tenors, and he guilts a kid who makes the seemingly adult decision to leave. No, Gareth, no. UNDO.

Seriously, he lost my trust. If I were a London parent of a public school child, I would not want him at my school, where students already discouraged by their class status (and in some cases poverty) might be further convinced they’re not “winners.” Yuck.

Posted in Complaint Dept., Movies, Television | 4 Comments »

Media Highs/Lows

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

So much to review, so little time.

1) Is anyone else enjoying Huge? Great premise: Angry, rebellious, body-accepting teenage feminist refuses to endorse values at the weight-loss camp to which her parents have consigned her for the summer. And she’s played by Nikki Blonsky!

Before the show aired I worried that Blonsky’s character would be co-opted into a pro-dieting message, but not so far. So far the show has managed to present both Will (Blonsky) and the other kids, most of whom are there by choice (or “choice,” considering the cultural context), in an impressively nuanced way.

I’m loving the romantic tensions and sweet moments of vulnerability for kids whose lives are generally sucky. Plus, fat kids portrayed as attractive. Hallelujah!

Show! Don’t abandon me now!

2) In his weecap of Winter’s Bone in The New Yorker, David Denby writes that director Debra Granik “envelops us in mysteries that can never quite be solved.” Actually, all the mysteries in that movie are solvable. Guess Denby didn’t have smartypants John Diller by his side to explain.

3) You know, I’m kind of into memoirs of difficult childhoods, but I had to stop reading Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle about 50 pages in. (More accurately, I flipped to the final 20 pages to find out how she survived.)

Here’s why: a) The book is like a Steve Reich composition with a single, endlessly repeating note but none of the hypnotic and purposeful tonality; b) There’s no reflection to speak of, just the narration of events; and c) There’s no emotional depth in the telling. Why is this book popular? Is this book popular?

4) If you read a collection of essays by a sassy twentysomething humorist who was maybe trying a little too hard and whose tone felt  acidic and possibly slightly rancid with no clear reason why, would you read her second collection? That is the question I am forced to ask myself as I make my way through Sloane Crosley’s How Did You Get This Number?

I think what happened is that I mostly forgot what I thought of her first book, and also I am disproportionately interested in humorous essays about twentysomething experiences in New York involving crazy Craigslist roommates. Anyways, I’m not finding her funny or even likable, and now she has a series in development with HBO?

Universe! Don’t abandon me now!

Posted in Books, Movies, Television | 2 Comments »

Savage Detectives/Mad Men

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

A quick look at two pieces of popular (high-brow-ish) culture:

1) Savage Detectives. I’m only 150 pages in, but I may not get to page 151. Is this book not the Latin American Youth in Revolt? I mean, obviously, Youth in Revolt would be the American Savage Detectives, written 20 years post, but I’m beguiled by the resemblance. And if I hadn’t already read Youth in Revolt, wishing endlessly for something of consequence to happen until finally, 500 pages later, discovering that it never would, I might have more patience for Savage Detectives.

Nothing’s going to happen, is it? You can tell me.

2) Mad Men. I am late to the point of irrelevance here, but I’ve just begun making my way through Season 1. (I’m at ep 8 of 12.) Here’s what I’ve noticed: Jon Hamm sounds exactly like the Moonlighting version of Bruce Willis. I swear. Close your eyes and listen! Also, the writers are frighteningly adept at calibrating Don Draper’s asshole factor. Just when you think you can’t be bothered to care, they crack him open enough to snare you again.

Also, MM seems both unreliably exaggerated and simultaneously very smart about sexism. I keep thinking they’re replaying the same notes and then, no, there’s something new. As in, okay, the women are complicit in their objectification, because it’s all they know; it’s their only form of power, and then—whoah, they’re complicit in their infantilization, too, because nobody gave them a post-marriage narrative. Things like that.

I fear that, as in so many series that start well and veer away from reality, too much plot is shortly headed my way. Let’s hope not.

Posted in Books, Television | 3 Comments »

On Shushing, Plus

Friday, March 19th, 2010

I’m a pretty big fan of Linda Holmes, the NPR pop culture blogger who got her cult-crit writing start on Television without Pity (nom de plume: Miss Alli), recapping The Amazing Race, Survivor, and various flash-in-the-pan delights like Married by America. (That show was its own kind of death.)

Back in the day, I would sometimes watch a series Holmes covered just to read her witty recap. And these days I’m a regular consumer of Monkey See. She’s smart; she’s funny; and she knows, as John would say, a kabillion amount about pop culture. Way more than I’ll ever know, or need to know, or want to know—but from her I’m usually interested.

Once in a while, though, Holmes writes something that feels not entirely honest. As in, her recent disquisition on movie-theater shushing. Her basic point: Please don’t talk while the movie is running, especially if it’s a serious movie, because then she’ll have to shush you. And she hates shushing you.

Okay, sure. I’m with her. But then she says that if you shame her for shushing you, she won’t be ashamed. And . . . I don’t buy it. My sense is that she will be ashamed. That’s why it’s so hard for her. Because she’s used to being the shushing nerd, and she hates that role.

And, you know, ME, TOO. I hate being the shusher, too! But years ago, I learned a special trick from a friend, and it almost always works, and today I’m going to share it with the world. (All ten of you.)

And that is this: If you ask nicely, there’s nothing to be ashamed about! And nobody sasses back! It’s like, instead of doing what Holmes did (as per her own account), which was—yep—shaming the talkers, just say, in your nice voice, “Hi, there. Would you please be a little quieter?” It’s feel-goodness all around.

In other news, is anyone watching Kell on Earth? My beloved friend Vicky, who tapes cable television for me, has added this show to my queue. And . . . I need to detox. Truly and for reals. Toxins must exit my body in some form. Maybe a cleanse? Anyone?

Posted in Complaint Dept., Movies, Television | 4 Comments »

Media Roundup

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

A quick review of recently consumed media:

1) The Liars’ Club. I finally read the first Mary Karr memoir (15 years late), with the aim of reading the second and then the third. It’s pretty brilliant. In fact, it’s something of an argument against all of the bloggy, casually written, stunt-driven memoirs in its obsessive attention to language.

Not that I begrudge anyone le memoir lite—I read them, often enjoyably—but, just, are they literature? Karr is writing literature. (This is where I mock my own pretension by quoting the blowhard professor father in The Squid and the Whale and saying that Mary Karr is “a serious person.”)

2) Manhood for Amateurs, by Michael Chabon. A collection of personal essays about being a husband, father, and son. He writes great sentences, and I’m a fan of Chabon’s unique brand of neurotic cheer.

Sometimes I feel a little uneasy about the degree to which he seems to be asking for expiation for his fatherly sins. Or maybe granting it to himself? Or maybe it’s more of a public self-flagellation he’s engaged in? Anyway, still worth reading. His take on Obama grabbed me right by the “me, too” gizzard.

3) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We laughed pretty hard.

4) A documentary about the bald eagle on PBS. I caught only a few minutes, and that while I was clicking back and forth with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (don’t judge me), largely because I find it impossible to watch baby animal death, or even adult animal death by drowning in a frozen lake.

(”The problem with nature,” I said to my brother-in-law as he walked through the room, “is that people die.”

Anyway, one of my favorite things to do when watching nature videos is immediately apply the animal behavior to humans and see how it pans out.

So here’s what I got from the eagle thing: The male builds the nest, at least at first. And when a female comes a’lookin’, they have like a three-minute mating ritual (tandem flying), after which they set about to building up the nest even more.

But whenever the female brings a new twig or some grass and places it, the male always picks it up and moves it. Always. The first time he does it, she’s right there, kind of “Doo-dee-doo, don’t mind if I pretend this isn’t happening,” and he doesn’t look at her. He’s like, “There. That’s where it should have been.” But later he takes to doing it only when she isn’t there.

M: I could kind of see the attraction there.

J: Yeah?

M: You know, the male had a really good-looking nest. Plus, it was in a great location. It was like a West Village nest. I could maybe potentially have gone for a dude with a really excellent house.

J: Yeah, but he controls the decor.

M: God, I know.

[Pause.]

M: Okay, never.

Posted in Books, Garanimals, Movies, Television | No Comments »

Top Chef: Knife Labeler

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Yesterday as I was watching Top Chef, it occurred to me that there must be somebody—a lowly PA, no doubt—who arranges the stickers on the knives.

I want to be that person. I want to arrange the stickers on the knives. I would work really hard to align them and space them evenly. I would even pre-measure.

Of course, the person who does it probably slaps the stickers on in a stolen five-minute panic between straightening the Glad bags in the pantry and fluffing the pillows on Padma’s special judging chair.

In related news, don’t you love how the contestants always hold the knives face-out, between two fingers, to show the camera which they drew? Do they do that automatically, or are they coached? I think I would do it automatically. It just feels so right.

Posted in Television | 2 Comments »

Media Melange

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

If I knew how to insert an accent aigu on the “e” in the title, I would.

Lots of media consumed since my last post. Here’s the rundown:

1. Jim and Pam got married. I have been in mad love with those two since Season 2, so this was An Event for me. I nearly sent out invites. As an ep, I thought it was handled well—balancing, as Linda Holmes has noticed, the elements of absurd cringe humor with the very real, sane, and heart-melting love between two sympathetic characters. (I cry.)

The writers of The Office can be pretty genius, and one of the things I worship them for is the way they skirt the expected, particularly w/r/t Jim and Pam. Example: They spend nearly a season building to the marriage proposal, which doesn’t happen in the final moments of the season finale but instead in a random ep  slightly into the beginning of the next season, at a highway rest stop, in the pouring rain. Similar thing with the wedding. And in each case, when they do deliver, they deliver just enough to make an emotional impact, and then—whoosh—cut to silly. So we’re always wanting more.

Damn you, writers. You have me on a leash.

2. Whip It. Pretty much what you’d expect, in a good way. Ellen Page is so, totally, watchable. Drew Barrymore the Actress seems to be trying a smidge too hard, but DB the First-Time-Director does well. The dialogue is refreshingly un-Juno-ized. And kudos to writer Shauna Cross, or whoever made the decision about the romantic subplot, which is satisfyingly empowering. No dating boys who might possibly cheat! Even if they are heroin-chic,  Emo-haired, hotty rockers! Sigh.

3. The Boys Are Back. A sad, well made movie. Worth seeing. I was particularly impressed with how quickly it amps up into facing tragedy head-on. And Clive Owen = good actor. Deep eyes. Does he maybe look like a cross between Nicholas Cage and Russell Crowe?

4. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. Richard Dawkins came to Berkeley, and we went to hear him speak. I was delighted by his elegant and hilarious prose, which made me want to read his book, almost as much as I was struck by his class-A assholishness, which I had known was coming, I think from hearing interviews re: his previous book, The God Delusion. Our friend Doug noticed how riled up the crowd was, gunning for the blood of creationists. For Doug, it wasn’t so much that Dawkins is a science fundamentalist (though that put him on the defensive) as that the crowd seemed ready to take up arms. Yeah. There’s a lot of anger and self-righteousness out there. On both sides.

It is kind of wonderful that Dawkins is willing to say exactly what he thinks.

5. Top Chef. I’m a little behind on eps, because I get them hand-delivered via stork (i.e., my excellent friend Vicky tapes all necessary cable shows for me). But I’m going to put in for the leprechaun, a.k.a. Kevin. Humble, adorable, and obviously a huge talent. (Plus, such milky skin!) I also like Jen, who is both hard-core and absent of any bullshit, especially since she cried when Ashley got eliminated. Before that, I thought she might not have feelings.

6. Project Runway. Same as above w/r/t timing. Lots of talent this year, but nobody to love. Where is my Korto? Or even Leanne?

7. Best American Essays: 2009. Edited by Mary Oliver. Therefore, focusing on topics that interest her, which dovetail nicely with topics that interest me: dogs, words, spirit. There’s a particularly striking essay by a writer for Vanity Fair about the $13,000/mo. mansion he rented in New Orleans. He means to make a point about houses as embodiment of status anxiety in America, but I was transfixed by his personal story, or rather his psyche: By what calculus did he ever imagine that he could afford such a house? I kept needing to know and not finding out.

8. Have you noticed how many must-see movies are coming down the pike? We’re going to have to get busy. Good Hair. Passing Strange. (Yeah, Spike Lee, but try to look past that: It’s the fantastic Stew musical that opened in Berkeley!) Where the Wild Things Are. (Did you catch the Spike Jonze interview on Terry Gross?) And, I don’t know, 9? Maybe? I can’t tell.

Posted in Books, Movies, Television | No Comments »

Wipeout: The Weekly Heartbreak

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

I make no secret of my love for Wipeout, the zany obstacle course show on ABC. It can be offensive, mostly in its mocking of fat people, but it reliably brings such sweet belly laughs that I tend to overlook both the sexist commentary and the snide slow-mo’s of jiggling chub, which in any case are pretty rare.

However, there is a bigger problem, which is that women almost never win. Every week, I live in hope. And every week, those hopes are dashed, often by mere seconds.

There was one week in which only women made it to the final round, such a glaring anomaly that it pointed to a difference in the course; i.e., that week’s tasks favored agility over upper-body strength. So . . . surely they could continue to mix it up? Because as long as they keep releasing 1000 gallons of water in one dump down the slide in the final round, they’re going to wipe out more women than men. Plus, I’m tired of that gag already.

Mix it up, Wipeout people.

Posted in Television | No Comments »