September: The Loneliest Month

Unless one of the seven other contributors to this blog posts something in the next 48+ hours, I'll be the only one to have put anything here in the month of September. Now, it can't really be that no one else is watching TV or movies at this time of the year... can it?

Some Reasons Why Heroes Still Ain't All That Good

Never mind that the Heroes Event Special last week, kicking off the third season of the show, made it sound like Heroes was the greatest thing since sliced bread (that, despite an almost-universally panned second season)... the two-hour premiere that followed it was enough to put the lie to that opinion, all by itself!

There were some good moments in it, but let's consider just a few of the aspects that made it somewhat sucky:

• Peter from the future should have not only all of the powers that we've seen him accumulate so far (in the present) and any that he'll encounter over the next few years, but also should have had lots of time to perfect the use of them (consider how far he's come already in that regard)... and yet he's still running away (rather than teleporting, freezing time, turning invisible or any of the many other uses that he could make of his abilities)?
  
• Are we to believe that Hiro is mentally, not to mention emotionally retarded? He receives a "message from the grave" from his father and all he can think to do is immediately disobey the old man by opening a safe that he's been told holds a secret that could destroy the world? What is this guy, 6 years old? He's certainly written that way...
• Speaking of whom, wasn't it just wonderful to watch him blame Ando for something that hasn't happened yet?
• And while I can appreciate the visual coolness of having Hiro able to touch the "speed lines" trailing behind the superspeedster, did no one on the writing staff understand that those things are simply visual tricks (the blurred after images of something moving very quickly) rather than physical matter?
• Will we ever find out how the speedy girl could possibly have known that Hiro opened the safe so quickly after it happened? Will they explain how she travels across water so quickly (is it, like the Flash, that she runs across the water like a skipping stone?) Is this a show where answers of that sort are likely to ever be given?
• Did anyone buy Nathan's sudden conversion to "messenger of God" or whatever that nonsense was? Are each of the main characters in this show slightly deranged to start with, or should we just assume bad writing?
• When Claire hid in the closet while Sylar stalked her, all that was missing was the theme from Halloween and a hanger that the teen could unwind and shove into Sylar's face! Horror movie homage, or shameless rip-off?
  
• The time travel "theory" in this show is starting to make my head spin, as it seems as if they subscribe to both the notion that trips to the past can change history (Peter coming back to stop Nathan's outing of himself), and can't change it (various attempts by Hiro across the first 2 seasons)! Pick a horse and ride it, for Pete's sake!

I could go on, but you get the gist...

Review: I'm Not There

If you're a fan of the music of Bob Dylan, and/or you can handle films that are incredibly thought-provoking but not necessarily all that... linear (to put it mildly), then I'm Not There may just be a hit with you!

I really enjoyed both the Todd Haynes film itself and the DVD extras that came on the "Two-Disc Collector's Edition," but I'm not sure that they're for everyone. The soundtrack features an impressive array of Dylan songs, many of them reinterpreted and covered by others (including Calexico, who deliver a haunting version of "Goin' to Acapulco" from The Basement Tapes), but of course if you're not into Dylan's material, that's hardly a selling point. Also noteworthy were "Pressing On" (from Dylan's gospel period), "When the Ship Comes In" (sung emphatically by young lead actor Marcus Carl Franklin) and "Ballad of a Thin Man" (which I'd always thought was called "Mister Jones" until I watched one of the Special Features on the DVD... the things you can learn from these little discs!). It isn't very often that I'm inclined to buy a movie soundtrack, but this time I just might.

As for the "storyline" (such as it is), it gets high points for its uniqueness, even if there weren't anything else to recommend about it (and there is). Writer/director Haynes takes a metaphor - the singer's shape-shifting-like penchant for reinventing himself every few years - and makes it flesh in the form of six "faces" of Dylan's: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw and the aforementioned Marcus Carl Franklin all personify aspects of the man. It's an original approach that has to be seen to be appreciated, but it's also uneven at times. The Richard Gere scenes featuring an aging outlaw named "Billy the Kid," in particular, seem to require more than a passing familiarity with the folk/rock/gospel singer's background to really see the point of. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the Blanchett, Bale and Ledger parts, and eventually developed some fondness for what was going on with Franklin.

I went into the film more than a little curious as to how a woman (Cate B) could play the part of a male singer (Bob D), and came out of it thunderstruck by what an amazing casting choice that turned out to be. As Haynes says on one of the DVD interviews, Dylan exhibited such a feminine, skinny, folded-into-oneself persona around the time of his poorly-received conversion to electric music (to the cry of "Judas!" in one famous concert) that having him portrayed by a female made perfect sense. And Blanchett is note-perfect in I'm Not There, well deserving of her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomimation. The flat voice that she employs throughout was an excellent device for helping us forget that "that guy's a chick" and just focus on the acting display.

There are no shortage of great scenes, including Jude Quinn (the Blanchett-Dylan) and Allen Ginsberg (played by David Cross) delivering one-liners to a huge Christ-on-a-crucifix statue up on a hill ("How does it feeeeel?" and "Why don't you do your early stuff?") and Bale as Pastor John, preaching to a group of a couple dozen faithful before breaking into song.

If you can open your mind and get past the need for a coherent story thread (which you won't really find, or at least I didn't) then you'll have a great ride, complete with outstanding tunes. On the other hand, if that doesn't sound like you, then I'd say stay away from I'm Not There and look elsewhere for your kicks.

Rating: *** 1/2

Fringe Has An Outside Chance To Make Me Want To Believe

I want to like Fringe, and I'm happy to give it a few more chances to win me over. But that pilot episode that was on last night definitely had me laughing at all the wrong moments. It was obviously going to suffer from comparisons to X-Files, and it did. If we remember that earlier Fox show the way it started off - and not get sucked into focusing on how badly it ended - then I'm not sure Fringe does much to improve upon it.

When we're first introduced to who we expect will be the "Mulder & Scully" of the show, they're already doing the nasty between the sheets. That can't be good, as clearly no TV writer in his right mind would have the two leads start off in a happy relationship, unless something bad is going to happen to one of them. And sure enough, it's not long before the square-jawed hero is blown up and lying in a coma, while his flesh disintegrates off of his body. Ouch... that's going to leave a mark!

There are twists a-plenty to be found, including how one character is presented to us in a Hannibal Lector-like role initially, only to later become "suddenly sane" and join the main Scooby gang! He seems like he'd have fit right into Alias when it was on, with his crazy-brilliant knowledge of science and pseudo-science that a decade or two in a loony-bin have somehow done nothing to diminish. And it's that sort of turn-your-brain-off vibe radiating off the show that had me chortling when I was probably supposed to be oohing and ahhing. I think there's an interesting premise at the core of the show, and I hope they can draw it out as they go along. I'm willing to give them another three or four episodes, just out of blind optimism for what the series could be.

On the positive side, at least nobody had a sister who'd been abducted by aliens...

Sarah Connor Kicks Butt In Season Two Premiere

Tonight's second season opener of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was pretty damn fine, indeed! This show waxed and waned for me a bit in its inaugural season, but ended strong with a good mix of action and the "small stuff" like John Connor getting to meet his father (as a little boy). The finale back in May left me feeling that they'd have to up the ante in the second season, and if tonight's episode is any indication: they're going to! While the series can be uneven at times, there are clearly some good writers on staff who know how to tell a compelling story. They seem to get that they're going to have to stop telling us how great a leader John Conner is in the future and start showing us how he gets there, in the present. Tonight's scene with Cameron, and the gun, was a great example of the latter. Instincts like that don't come along every day! And just who exactly do we really think offed the reprehensible Sarkissian? Was it Sarah (who Derek had claimed in Season One didn't have it in her to kill people), or was it maybe John's first kill?

The first season finale had a very exciting climactic scene that was dubbed over with the great Johnny Cash, singing "The Man Comes Around," echoing Agent Ellison's earlier remarks about the Book of Revelations. Tonight, bookending that was an opening montage put to the music of a female performer who I didn't recognize, foreshadowing both the literal house-burning that was about to happen as well as the extended family's figurative house (of unified purpose) that would melt down as a result of Cameron's new situation. It's not exactly Alan Moore- or Grant Morrison-subtle, but it's still pretty high-brow by mainstream TV standards. And it shows a willingness to experiment a bit with their form that goes against the norm for action-based series. I continue to hold out high hopes for this somewhat-brainy gasoline-powered show...

Review: Courage Under Fire

How much should we really expect of our military personnel, when they're caught in a life-threatening crisis? That's the central question of Courage Under Fire, the 1996 film starring Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Matt Damon, Michael Moriarty and Lou Diamond Phillips.

One of two characters put under the microscope for how they reacted while literally under fire is Colonel Nat Serling (Denzel Washington), who was commanding a platoon of tanks during a Desert Storm invasion of Iraq when an enemy tank inserted itself into their midst. As the Yanks started taking fire from within their own ranks, Serling gave the order to blast what he thought was the T-72 responsible for the attack... only to discover moments later that he'd actually shelled one of the American vehicles, killing his own officer and friend.

He'd been up for promotion going into that battle, but that's the last thing on his mind as he returns home months later, haunted by memories of his gaffe and the price that was paid for it. Rather than being bumped up to General, though, (is that what's above Colonel in U.S. Army rank?) he's given the demeaning task of investigating another officer, Captain Walden, who's being considered for the Medal of Honour. What makes this more than a routine assignment, though, are three things: Serling soon learns that Captain Walden's first name is Karen, meaning that she'd be the first woman to ever receive the honour; she's being considered for the award because of her actions during an attempted rescue during another point of Operation: Desert Storm, but some questions exist as to how she actually comported herself during the crisis (painfully reminding the Colonel of his own mistake under similar circumstances); and the medal, if awarded, will be given posthumously, as Capt Walden (played by Meg Ryan) died during the rescue. That last point means that Serling can't interview Walden herself, but instead has to rely solely on the testimony of others who were there.

The parallels between Serling's situation, as he drifts further and further away from his wife and children thanks to the guilt that he's not able to deal with, and the emerging tale of just what happened to the helicopter that Capt Walden was piloting, are perhaps a shade heavy-handed in parts. Overall, though, Courage Under Fire is an engrossing study of human bravery and weakness, with very good performances by Washington and Ryan, the latter of whom is naturally only seen via flashbacks. That limitation, along with the fact that we get to know her through the sometimes-contradictory accounts of others, leaves us with an unfinished set of feelings toward Ryan's Capt Walden, which seems appropriate in such a Rashomon-like approach to her story-within-a-story.

Among the other cast members, a very young Matt Damon plays one of Walden's copter-mates, and he delivers the goods in a final scene that requires more range than we usually see out of Damon. Phillips is appropriately slimy as another member of the crew, and Moriarty seems a bit off throughout as Serling's superior officer, General Hershberg, but by the end of it you come to realize why. Scott Glenn has a small but pivotal role as a reporter who starts off as Serling's nemesis before evolving into something much more interesting.

One of the clever bits of storytelling that impressed me was the way in which the final resolution of the tank battle that opens the film is held back until late in the proceedings, but is done in such a way as to make you think that you've already seen everything there is to see (when, in fact, you should have realized that you hadn't). There's also a nifty little "reveal" about what happened with the helicopter crew that I didn't see coming at all.

I didn't know what to expect from this 12-year-old offering, but it definitely provided solid entertainment, a compelling story, some good performances, and a few moving moments.

Rating: *** 1/2