The 84th annual Academy Awards will be wrapping up in about nine hours from now, but that still gives me the opportunity to give you my annual “Shouda” and “Willa” predictions in advance of tonight’s show. The “Shoudas” are who I would award the Oscar to in each category and the “Willas” are who will actually take the hardware home this evening. It’s been a great year in film, with many memorable efforts and a few that I simply can’t wait to own and watch until the end of time. With heavy competition and multiple worthy performances brings tough choices – but my goal is to do just that for you on Oscar Afternoon. So let’s do it shall we?
(Disclaimer: I did not italicize/underline/quote the films because it would have pushed release back longer than I wanted this afternoon. My apologies for that fact…but I hate laptop mouse technology and felt like writing this more comfortably than at my desk.)
BEST PICTURE
We’re really looking at three films here of the nine nominated, though all have their merits. Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris was a great movie, but the ending kept it from being even better. I loved it, but it’s not going to win. Hugo was really special, but it’s not going to win a Best Picture Oscar. Virtually no one who saw Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close (particularly critics) liked it; making it potentially the most shocking Best Picture nominee in history…it has zero chance. War Horse was a sprawling epic, the kind of film that might have won twenty years ago, but no longer. The Tree of Life is the film that thinks its quirks and concept are so prolific that it deserves to be showered in praise…but it just didn’t live up to the idea. Moneyball was amazing, but I’m still stunned it was nominated for Best Picture. I own it, I adore it, but Pitt would have a much better chance of a win than the film itself. So that brings us to the magic three…a trio perhaps stronger than any in recent memory as a whole.
The Help is a wonderful film, from the acting to the casting to the directing to the cinematography to the sound to the reflection of Stockett’s incredible book. It’s truly beautiful and has that Forrest Gump or Benjamin Button feel to the way the flashbacks are utilized.
Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer both could walk away with Oscars on Sunday and in doing so could become the first duo of African Americans to do so on the same night. Jessica Chastain, also nominated, was flawless in her role as the troubled, but partially heroic Celia Foote. Emma Stone was, as usual, very good as well. I’ve seen The Help three times and it gets better with each viewing. It’s a timeless movie. This film could win, absolutely, but in all actuality, Oscar is a two-film race this year.
George Clooney’s work in The Descendants is the best of his career, an extraordinary statement when one peruses the actor’s resume. It’s also Alexander Payne’s best movie, another staggering opinion to be able to write, considering Sideways. The Hawaiian tale of a family, a secret coming to light, a wealth of fortune, and the simple pain of infidelity and deceit all contribute to one of those films that it’s hard to ever turn down when given a chance to watch again…even if you’ve seen it a hundred times. Until this week, it was my pick to win the award, but I believe I’ve figured out how to award all three of these films in their own way tonight.
The most unique motion picture to arrive in many moons is The Artist, a brilliant story of the silent movie era, the advent of technology and those it affected, all wrapped around a distant love story and a “meant to be” mentality in many respects. Jean Dujardin, who reprised his George Valentin role on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago in a surprise cameo for Zooey Deschanel, was masterful from start to finish in both his success and happiness and later his despair and depression. Berenice Bejo, likewise, owned the screen as Peppy Miller. John Goodman, Penelope Ann Miller, James Cromwell, the DOG…the list goes on and on – it was all perfect in the casting phase. As a visual spectacle, it was a treat of simplicity as art. Leaving this film without a smile should be impossible. So good…oh so so good folks. Hazanavicius’ direction was impeccable and The Artist will be talked about for a long time.
SHOUDA
Loved most of the films, particularly the big four, but in the end, the most affecting film of the year was The Artist, because of just how unique it truly was and how masterfully it was executed. If The Descendants or The Help were to win, I would have zero trouble in celebrating those gems, but I highly believe The Artist deserves the honor this year.
WILLA
The Academy will agree with me. The Artist was wonderful, the critics love it, audiences who saw it still talk about it, and it would serve as a way to break the mold in some respects in terms of Best Picture winners. If it isn’t The Artist, it will be The Descendants – which would be awesome as well, but go with the black and white and the deafening silence that captivated the world in 2011.
Okay, so that was long – for the rest…brevity is a virtue.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Pitt was outstanding as Billy Beane but it’s a film that likely will disappear off the ballots of most Academy voters. Oldman is one of the most overlooked actors of the past fifty years but honestly, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was merely average and was directed as LeCarre would have wanted – light on explanation, heavy on haze and creeping confusion. A Better Life was seen by so few people that the nomination was its win, as great as Bichir was in his role. So we’re down to a silent film star fighting against technology and a Hawaiian businessman dealing with a neurotic family, a tragedy, and his own shortcomings as a father. So…
SHOUDA
How can I pick against Dujardin, traditionally a comedy actor who played depression so well in the back half of The Artist, or Clooney, who has knocked on Oscar’s Lead Actor door for years and just entered his career best performance? Oh…I have to? Okay, okay, then it’s Clooney, because his consistency through the last seven years or so has been better than anyone else’s, particularly because he’s been so much more careful (with a few exceptions) in the roles he has chosen. While I do want to see him break out into more varied roles as he often plays a similar character with similar inflection, he was just perfect in The Descendants.
WILLA
Because I chose The Artist for Best Picture, I think Clooney gets The Descendants its big win here. Either of the two is absolutely deserving though – it’s a great crop of five performances, with Clooney’s at the top.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Michelle Williams will win a Best Actress Oscar, just not this year. Glenn Close is as good as it gets but Albert Nobbs never opened to over half of the country. She could be a major dark horse. I’m as big a Stieg Larsson fan as it gets and I thought Rooney Mara was amazing, but if she wins for her role as Lisbeth Salander, it will be in the third film of the trilogy, same with David Fincher and in the same way as Peter Jackson and The Return of the King. She also still has to deal with following up Noomi Rapace, which is impossible if you’ve seen the original Swedish Millenium trilogy. So we’re down to two, one the most decorated actress in American history and the other in a performance that so totally owned the screen that it was impossible to look away, even in its most difficult moments.
SHOUDA
Here’s the thing about Streep in The Iron Lady. The reason her performance was so spectacular is because the film itself was merely average (at best). I’m a big Thatcher fan but the movie treatment of her life was slow, poorly paced, and at times incredibly dull and boring. Streep was pitch-perfect but at some point, the bar she has set for herself can be her biggest challenge. Viola Davis’ portrayal of Aibileen Clark was the performance of the year. It was so rich, so full of depth and emotion, and so stubbornly vulnerable that it simply should not be denied this year. Also, if you look at my thought in terms of awarding all three films, one should win picture, one should win actor, the third should win actress, and all other awards are up for grabs.
WILLA
Streep won the Golden Globe and has not actually WON a Best Actress Oscar in many years, despite being nominated an obscene (and warranted) number of times. She’s the best of all time, but The Iron Lady as a film and the Academy Awards facing pressure to be more mainstream should both hurt her here. Most are picking Meryl to win anyway, but I’m picking the best performance from the much better movie. Viola Davis – the Oscar is yours.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Plummer won the Golden Globe and he’s often undervalued in acting conversations and could win for Beginners, a film very few actually had a chance to see in the United States. Jonah Hill broke out in Moneyball and then returned to…well…being Jonah Hill with the horrific Allen Gregory on Fox and a pair of less-than-stellar comedies on the way. He was awesome in Moneyball, but an Oscar win just doesn’t feel right at this point. Warrior may have been the most underrated movie of 2011, largely because of its subject matter, but Nick Nolte is a flat-out heavyweight as a talent and he showed it again in the film. Kenneth Branagh’s work as Sir Lawrence Olivier was exceptional but My Week With Marilyn has Oscarless written all over it. Max von Sydow has been nominated in the past, but he’s nominated for a film most critics hated, so he’s not likely to win.
SHOUDA
Plummer finally gets the icing on his career cake for a film that will have most asking their friends when it came out and “Did you see it?” The answer likely will be no, but the performance of an elderly man coming out of the closet, surprising his son, is most definitely award worthy stuff.
WILLA
Plummer – his work was great and the rest of the category just isn’t as strong as in previous years. It’s that simple, the Canadian will get his due.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
If Supporting Actor largely rests on films the public hasn’t seen, Supporting Actress is the complete opposite. Bridesmaids justifiably made tons of cash and Melissa McCarthy remains the most memorable part of that hilarious film (along with Wiig, who I can’t get enough of), The Help was everywhere and both Spencer and Chastain shined (you could also argue Bryce Dallas Howard, but only two per film per category are allowed), McTeer rounded out Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, and then there’s Berenice Bejo, whose smile alone was enough to win me over in The Artist. This is a fascinating category because whoever wins, there’s a snub.
SHOUDA
It’s so hard to go against Bejo here. Peppy Miller was an outstanding character and Berenice played her to an off-the-charts level. I’m going to go against her though, simply because Minny Jackson, just like Aibileen Clark, completely dominated the screen whenever she was on it. Octavia Spencer had a few moments in The Help that were the right chances for her to show her stuff and she did so…in spades. Her stuff with Viola was so good, but the stuff with Chastain was just as good, not to mention the stuff with Viola and Emma.
WILLA
Octavia will become the first Alabama woman to leave with an Actress Oscar. She won the Golden Globe, she’s been the front runner for a while, and her performance warrants the Award. Don’t underestimate that the Academy might really like the idea of the headline reading “African American Actresses Sweep the Oscars” across the world on Monday morning. Both Viola and Octavia were so good and so pure in their performances that The Help gets its place in history thanks to both.
BEST DIRECTOR
Allen’s Midnight in Paris was directing perfection, but so was Payne’s The Descendants, Hazanavicius’ The Artist, and of course Scorsese’s Hugo. Malick has done much better work than the artsy overwrought film, The Tree of Life, so this isn’t his year.
SHOUDA
Four deserving possibilities here, but I can only choose one. Usually, Best Picture and Best Director generally go the same way. Scorsese won a Golden Globe, but I don’t see it tonight. Allen could definitely win, but I think he’s more likely to win for Screenplay than here in this category. Trying to decide between The Artist and The Descendants is just too difficult, but if I have to do it, I would pick Hazanivicius because of the way in which he chose to showcase his story. The Artist is a monumental achievement. I also think Tate Taylor deserved a nom for The Help. He’s brand new as a director but he did better than solid work on his first big film.
WILLA
Most seem to be picking Scorsese for one reason or another, but I’m going with the momentum. The Artist is all the talk going into the Academy Awards and I suspect it will still be that way walking out of Los Angeles. I liked four of the five of these films very much and love all five directors. Allen is the dark horse here…he hasn’t won for Best Director since Annie Hall and Midnight in Paris is truly one of his best, despite a rather bland ending.
QUICKIES (The Rest – In the Interest of Time)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Here’s Allen’s award, beating out Wiig, Hazanavicius (because he’ll get Director), and Chandor for Margin Call, which was the best film you DIDN’T see last year. Love it. If Scorsese ends up winning for Director, I’d still say Woody wins here, and it would be hard to disagree.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Sorkin always has a lot of love and did another solid job with Moneyball. Dialogue was the key to the film and no one’s better than Aaron. Here’s Alexander Payne’s award though, along with Nat Faxton, and DEAN PELTON himself, Jim Rash. The Descendants gets the nod for Adapted Screenplay.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Down year in terms of nominees. Puss in Boots was great, Kung-Fu Panda 2 was pretty good, and I dug Rango a lot. I’d say the former if I had to guess…or one of the two nominees I didn’t see, neither big in the United States.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: I’m biased for Reznor and Ross as you know, but Dragon Tattoo, as good as the score was…was outdone by Ludovic Bource. One thing about Dragon Tattoo’s music is that most of it was remixed or similar variations from Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts release. Bource’s score for The Artist is so good that I find myself listening to it far more than even I thought I would when I purchased it a few months ago. He won the Golden Globe, he’ll win the Oscar for truly special work. He always does Hazanavicius’ movies and tonight he gets recognized for it.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Bret McKenzie leaves with an Oscar for Flight of the Conchords tonight. “Man or Muppet” is the best original tune of the year and even Murray could get the Conchords a gig once this show ends tonight.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: I hope to be standing and cheering when Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory wins tonight. The trio of films documenting the case, arrest, trial, and now “freedom” of the West Memphis Three caused my obsession with Damien, Jason, and Jessie and their story. The original docs were so good and so well-done, it’s hard to quantify, and the third installment, which premiered on HBO two months ago was just unreal.
BIGGEST SNUB: Yeah this is my award, and it goes to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. It’s one of my top five films of the past seven years and the final chapter wasn’t just good, it was nearly flawless. It has a few tech award noms, but deserved better…somehow. Let’s be honest, Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close yes, but Harry Potter no?
So there’s most of the biggies…at least from me. The one I’m least confident in is Best Director, because Scorsese is such a heavyweight (and 2 or 3 on my all-time list behind Nolan and right there with Fincher) and Hugo was so good. But regardless, I hope this gets you primed for Billy Crystal’s triumphant return tonight to host…which even if it’s only average will still be seen as the best in nearly a decade. He’s just that talented and right for this. I find myself extremely excited for the medley.
I’ve said it before, but if you haven’t seen The Artist, The Descendants, or The Help…you need to do so. Add to that Moneyball, Warrior, Hugo, Margin Call, and Bridesmaids (and ahem! HP) and you’ve done a lot in terms of your film knowledge for the past twelve months. Now, let’s hand out Oscar and head back to the movies. I need to start preparing my 2013 blog.
-JM
bon iver is great. justin vernon’s beard is great. everything is just great.
So the whole point behind 6 PM was to post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday… at 6 PM. It’s Saturday, but I’m chilling inside the studios at WKU doing some radio production work and for some reason, my brain is telling me to write down some thoughts. Now the question is, what are those thoughts? This could get interesting folks, so grab a beverage and strap in for all the craziness.
Actually, perhaps I can come up with something tangible that’s truly worth sampling. First off, very pleased with the response to Wednesday’s piece on Person of Interest, both from big fans of the show and fans of my stuff. I even had a fairly well-known television critic send me an email on the column. I truly appreciate any and all of it - really cool stuff.
I did want to do a full exposition of the continually ballyhooed idea for an Ensemble Award going forward for the Academy Awards, but I want to do some real thinking about past films that could have benefited from such an honor. This year, without a doubt, The Help and The Artist both serve as spectacular examples. It wouldn’t mean that individual performances wouldn’t be possible or expected, but simply that an ENTIRE cast could get credit when it’s due for helping to craft a high-level or memorable experience. Think of The Departed for instance. That piece is still to come in the next few weeks but I’m not ready to do it just yet.
It is an enormous aid to the producers of ABC’s Once Upon a Time for their program to air on a network owned by Disney. What needs to be said here is that THIS is a good way to spend an hour every Sunday night. I could write and write about what I like about the idea and execution, which I originally believed would be a bastardized version of Willingham’s epic Fables comic, but I’ll save it for another time. But to be able to utilize Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Snow White, Cinderella, and so many other marketable characters gives the show a leg-up in terms of credibility with its audience. We get the REAL THING every week, every episode, and with the quality of the story and the character development thus far, it’s not surprising at all to see the ratings. You should definitely give this one a shot, without hesitation.
Grimm is indeed…not crap. I’ve enjoyed it since the pilot and wondered what the audience would have been had it not been relegated to purgatory on Friday evenings at 9 PM. Another interesting concept, but one that’s familiar to those who watch procedurals and serials. The best way to talk about Grimm is in comparison to many other shows the idea borrows from regularly. If you haven’t watched it, think of Monk, Psych, The Mentalist, Lie to Me, and I’m sure that’s just the beginning of the list. Protagonist has a special ability to observe or see something that the general public can’t.
For Adrian Monk, his obsessive compulsive disorder led to him always being able to piece together a crime. For Patrick Jane, he was a former grifter and fake psychic with extraordinary abilities to control and manipulate the mind…he’s also spectacularly observant. Psych to this day plays on Shawn Spencer’s rare propensity for seeing what’s hidden in plain sight.
And for Nick Burkhardt, we find out at the same time as the lead character that he is one of the last remaining descendants of a group of hunters known as Grimms, who can see the monster behind the human being. He’s also conveniently a detective, so he solves crimes (almost always violent - VERY violent) with his skill. You see, in this world, the monsters really ARE monsters. He sees the Big Bad Wolf (a family of them globally as a matter of fact) whereas everyone else only sees the normal human that exists in our world. One happens to now be his closest friend. Think of how Buffy saw vampires or how Neo saw Agents inside the Matrix - but this time it’s all built off Grimm Brothers dark fairy tales. It’s a solid concept, executed well, with a solid cast, and the ratings are slowly rising.
But it still needs another time slot and better promotion. The general public also doesn’t realize how dark it actually gets - it definitely has a bit of an “unease” or even a scare factor from time to time, but for the most part, Grimm gets its concept correct.
Book project still in its infancy, but I’m piecing together the motivations for the five main characters and their back stories, which are central to the idea.
Musically, I’ve been digging on Leonard Cohen’s newest, Old Ideas, which is Leonard being Leonard (killing it as always) and still can’t put down Childish Gambino. Since I’m heading to see Mumford and Sons in March at the Ryman, I’m back into Sigh No More and listening to some of the new cuts in anticipation of their next record. I couldn’t be more excited for The Shins’ fourth album in March and I’m hopeful for The Avett Brothers to put out their new one before summer hits.
In terms of scores and soundtracks, I can’t stop listening to Bource’s work on The Artist, the authentic brilliant Hawaiian soundtrack for The Descendants, and of course Reznor and Ross’ genius for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Okay, so I’m glad I wrote this after all…got a few things out there and refocused on topics for the future. I will write extensively on Once Upon a Time sometime soon and will have plenty to say about the Academy Awards very soon as well. Make sure to catch Certifiable Total Recall next week as we sit down with author Bryan Dull on the release of his novel and discuss the next book in the Solstice Chronicles series.
The three of us will also be talking big time about the Oscars, so it should be a solid two hours to end February with for all the fans. Those unfamiliar, CTR is a pop culture podcast created and hosted by myself and Andrew Van - subscribe on iTunes today!
So there’s that - it’s way past 6 PM, but good enough. Felt like bloggin’ - so I blogged.
In the words of J. Peterman, “Elaine, congratulations on a job…done.”
If you haven’t been watching television lately, you might have missed a Thursday night program that’s beginning to turn some heads and actually won the People’s Choice Award for best new drama. Johnathan Nolan, brother of Chris (yes THAT Chris, if you didn’t know) created the show and produces and writes along with J.J. Abrams, one of the best at creating initial buzz for television shows.
Abrams’ list of accomplishments includes Lost, Fringe, Alias, the new Fox hit Alcatraz, as well as Person of Interest in addition to his many film credits.
You should be watching Person of Interest, that’s the underlying point here, but if you’re ALREADY watching, I have an angle that you may not have thought about to explain why you’re hooked…or why you will be soon enough.
John Reese lost virtually everything important in his life as well as parts of his psyche as a covert officer and CIA-hitman in overseas operations. He worked in special forces and did plenty of sludge work, for lack of a better description. He was deadly, disciplined, and incredibly skilled. He’s now a broken man in many ways: very quiet on many occasions, brooding in demeanor, and living a veritable life of solitude. By the way, Caviezel isn’t just good - he’s perfect in this role. It’s a real treat to watch him and Emerson together.
Harold Finch used to work for the United States government as part of the war on terror and built and developed a machine that could be used to filter all potentially dangerous language spoken through forms of technology and flag those individuals as threats to national security. What the viewer finds out is that Finch created a machine that pumps out a social security number of a respective “person of interest” that may be in imminent danger or may be a potential threat BEFORE the fact. Think of Minority Report or precognition with very little detail, where the puzzle is left to Finch and his partner.
The show builds around Finch and Reese, with the former hiring the latter, saving lives and stopping crimes before they occur or protecting key figures. Originally, it appeared that POI would be a week-to-week show, with a “number” every week, entirely self-contained, and the fear was that depth just wasn’t in the cards. But luckily for all of us, while there IS generally a new person of interest each week, the story has begun to truly take shape…and it’s amazingly (and ironically) familiar.
Within the first three episodes, I noticed parallels to my childhood (and let’s face it, adult - I can’t get enough) obsession and hero, the Dark Knight. Reese and Bruce Wayne have plenty in common, but if that’s where the similarities ceased, this piece would never have been written. Harold Finch, played by the brilliant Michael Emerson, represents an amalgam of Barbara Gordon, who as a result of the events of The Killing Joke became the Oracle…and Alfred Pennyworth.
Finch does all the tech-savvy stuff, he sits in a dimly lit room with screens and machines all around him and guides Reese to and from destinations, in and out of trouble, and monitors communications through cloned and synced mobile signals. He also often serves as Reese’s conscience and a source of “calm” mixed with sarcasm and playful banter with his gritty colleague. I won’t go into detail about Barb and Alf, because you either already know or you can quickly find out, but it’s uncannily similar.
Reese is outrageously resourceful. Just this past week he took on an FBI convoy using a gas mask to cloak his face and smoke bombs placed inside the hood of the car to completely conceal himself while saving a victim who was about to be handed over to assassins. He speaks in a near whisper, but always raspy, direct, and with a dark inflection. He lives alone and though he flirts with women, he always returns to silent reflection of his past. After saving someone, they often look back to where he was previously standing and he has vanished. He’s barely ever caught on any camera and even then, it never captures his face. Does any of this sound familiar?
Quite possibly one of the ONLY differences between Reese and Bruce is that John has no problem with lethal force. Death is both a necessity and pure self-defense in the POI universe, which makes sense when you realize that there aren’t any Jokers or Riddlers running around who have to escape in order to be recurring nemeses forever.
Where it becomes blatantly obvious, however, is in the character of Detective Joss Carter, played extraordinarily well by Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson. In the beginning, Carter sought Reese as a fugitive who kept showing up and basically dispensing vigilante justice and doing a lot of good…while being suspected of acting in a dangerous manner. She continually got closer and closer to Reese (and by proxy, to Finch) and then…it happened. The two heroes brought her in, explained some of what they were doing, and she became an ally.
It came as a result of her own “number” printing from the machine, but that was simply the catalyst for the overall plan. They call her for favors, give her information to aid her work and keep her out of trouble, and while she doesn’t feel perfect about the situation, she leans more and more to their side and is beginning to trust them. She doesn’t like being kept out of the loop but Carter is starting to see that they are trying to solve problems, stop horrific tragedies, and reduce crime in a deadly world. She (and one other) is the only one in the PD that knows of the two secret crusaders, but the relationship is undeniably the inception of the Commissioner James Gordon - Batman dynamic.
Person of Interest was always good, but early on it lacked the long-term arc. We now have a villain that has vowed “next time” to Finch as part-hacker, part contract killer and overall chaos-creator, and Reese has run into a few recurring characters of his own. Do you see where this is going?
It’s become a really special show and still has plenty of room for growth. The last six episodes have shown what’s to come and the ratings are slowly beginning to climb. CBS is set to bounce a few dramas this summer officially, but Person of Interest is moving off of “maybe” lists and seems more and more safe by the week. And why shouldn’t it be, it’s a mirror image of what will undoubtedly be the biggest box office splash in a long time - Johnathan’s brother Chris’ finale to his Dark Knight trilogy.
There’s a reason why Batman has endured and why it continues to enthrall me unlike any other character ever (though Harry Potter has staked his claim in my life BIG TIME over the past four years) - the story just doesn’t get old. The concepts that drive it and the darkness that surrounds it are unique in the superhero genre. John Reese is Batman without the cowl or the outfit. He wears a basic coat, a button down shirt, slacks, and packs serious heat. Harold Finch wears a suit, often pinstriped, dark black glasses and as a result of an attempt on his life, needs a cane in order to walk. But the motivations, the ideas, the execution, it’s as if Neal Adams is speaking through Johnathan Nolan.
Oh, and Reese - LOVES to wear black, particularly when he’s on a motorcycle, where he often wears all black with a flat black helmet and tinted facemask. It’s basically impossible NOT to see the similarities. Once you do, it’s oh so easy just to sit back and enjoy the ride. It may not be Gotham, but there’s still time.
And this is just the first season. Given time, think of what’s yet to come!
It’s been an odd day - extremely cold and rather unpleasant mixed with a feeling of loss. Please understand I’m speaking in relative terms, clearly the end of a television series is not a true “loss,” but in its way, it’s sad.
It’s disappointing because NBC had a property that could have been much better publicized, but they chose to place it on Mondays at 8 PM against How I Met Your Mother, House, and before a terrible lead in as Heroes began to fall. This season has been on Friday nights at 8, but I’m thankful to NBC’s failure to have kept this great show on the air for five seasons.
It’s upsetting because the cast works so well together and there’s really never been something quite like Chuck. If you took the references and meta of Community and put them inside a live action geek spy series, without losing any of the humor or wit, you’d have Fedak and Schwartz’ brilliant creation.
It’s disheartening because so much programming falls into the same categories, with the same basic ideas and formulas, and Chuck was able to mix a procedural around a serial action show and a male nerd fantasy all on top of a very serious subject… and at a time when the War on Terror was not just a buzz phrase, but a major reality.
It’s disgusting in some ways because so many people who would LOVE Chuck… never saw Chuck. This returns back to issue one stated above. BUT
It’s exciting because I predict Chuck will be the show that takes off both in syndication and through Netflix. Many people will discover the show through various means and I believe it will endure where so many of today’s shows end… and end.
It’s full of optimism because the talent on the show have proven they will be major players for years to come. Adam Baldwin has been on the scene for many years and will continue to be - his roles as Jayne on Firefly and John Casey on Chuck leave him in the rare position of playing a key part on two shows with die-hard fanbases in similar communities. Yvonne will always have a job and she’s grown so much over the years on screen… and I look forward to more Miranda in the video game universe as well. Josh Gomez will be one to watch as the Morgan Grimes character evolved SO MUCH over five years and as it did, he did. Sarah and Ryan… Vik and Scott… Mark and… Mark, tons of talent, energy, passion, and potential. Zachary Levi seems destined to try and attain Renaissance Man status. He loves to sing, so he’s sung on award shows, he’s also hosted awards shows, been nominated for an Academy Award for music, and is genuinely likable by any description. His career is just getting started.
So tonight is the end of a great television series. Chuck embraced its fans, asked them to watch to ensure renewal, never took a single viewer for granted, and constantly gave that audience fan service of the highest degree. Chuck and Sarah, Ellie and Awesome, Morgan and Alex, Casey’s growth, Beckman, Shaw, the Ring, everything had conflict but had a very “awwwww” kind of resolution.
The few minor things I’ve read (many from Yvonne) have said that tonight is a major tearjerker. Tragedy strikes in the first hour and although the ending is satisfying, it’s not the happy ending in all respects that most would expect. That’s an incredibly interesting choice for a show that has always found a way to deliver the happy ending.
And yet, for some reason, I think it’s probably going to be a spectacular finale because it goes against what Chuck has always been.
Buy More is gone and Carmichael Industries closes along with it tonight, but Chuck will live forever. Let’s all, for one more night, get together around the tube and just enjoy the ride. Thanks to everybody associated with Chuck for one of the most purely entertaining and clever shows ever to hit television. The shortcomings were there but didn’t matter, because the show was fully realized on every level.
#GoodbyeChuck - I’ll be watching episodes for the rest of my life. Kudos on a job well done.
Today’s 6 PM could be one of the shortest of all time, but it’s for a good reason. Less than two hours from now, you’ll ALL be listening (yes you will) to the return of Jay Freeze to Revolution 91.7 FM. Four solid hours of yours truly paving the way to Local Shots at 10, all kicked off alongside Jeremy Brown for 30 minutes of The Redzone - talking all things Tops sports. Today we welcome Herald recruiting guru Jordan Wells into the studio to talk about the 2012 pigskin class, with big news on the QB front.
But… this isn’t just an advertisement, it’s also an announcement.
For many years, a great many fine individuals have been kind enough to either privately or publicly express their enjoyment of my writing and several have posited a question that always felt more like a pipe dream than anything else. Times have changed. I’m in the right position right now to undertake what likely will be a two year process in penning a novel. I’ve had an idea rattling around in my brain for nearly ten years that over the past three weeks has actually evolved into something a bit different than the original thought but still with the same essence and character structure. As I work through the process, I’ll hopefully be supremely busy with radio, podcasting, and soon…yes very soon, I’ll have an announcement related to television barring unforeseen changes, but the novel is going to be under construction in the background.
I’ll be keeping all you guys up to date on what’s happening with the book as I undertake this exciting challenge but more than anything else, this is simply an announcement. It was actually over Christmas break that I had two people mention the idea to me again and it finally felt right to actually give it a shot. So time will tell, but I’m thrilled to privately begin converting this longstanding idea into actual fiction.
It’s funny…I always thought that if I did attempt a book, it would be non-fiction, and hopefully down the line I’ll have something “real” that the public would like to read, but for now, I think I have a story with depth, a story that’s unique, and a story I simply want to tell…even if I’m the only one who ever gets to read it. The only thing I can say today is that this is NOT a sci-fi story or any kind of geekdom or something of that nature. I have plenty of that in my life, but this tale is altogether different and founded in reality.
By the way, put this one on your calendar, in two weeks on Certifiable Total Recall, Andy and I will be joined by author Bryan Dull to talk about his Solstice Chronicles release and to go nuts talking about the year’s top shelf films and the Academy Awards. Dull’s first novel is about to be released for a second time with new content and likely on a much larger scale. We look forward to the conversation with a brilliant guy and someone I’m lucky enough to have called a friend for the past five years. Also, we pushed our Tuesday recording this week to Thursday, so you’ll have a new CTR this weekend all about FX’s Justified as well as recent happenings in pop culture.
So that’s 6 PM for Wednesday - hope you guys are listening tonight, either on the radio or live via revolution.fm (Listen Live link)… in two days, the final blog of the week will take a look at the oft discussed “Ensemble Award” idea for the Academy Awards and why the time is right to pull the proverbial trigger. (I know, I know, new tone.) So until then…
It’s 6 PM, do you know where your children are? (Get them away from the screen, they’re done reading - give ‘em some veggies and put a book in front of their nose. Might I suggest “The Great Gatsby?”)
I took the holidays off as far as 6 PM is concerned but I’m back - you’ll get new content delivered fresh every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening at… well, 6 PM. We’ve covered all this stuff by now. It’s actually 11:30 here in the CTZ right now and in 87 minutes, I’ll be sitting alongside my cohort in crime, Jeremy Brown, inside the MMTH WKU studios recording this week’s episodes of the Beyond the Box Score Podcast. So there’s plenty of sports coming from this guy, but either at the same level or perhaps even a bit higher, I’m the pop culture dude. I’ve taken serious lengths to see some of the major contenders in film over the past three weeks and wanted to speak about three of them, while mentioning a few others. This piece will likely be somewhat brief, by design, but as many readers have known for over a decade, when I say brief, it usually backfires into a term paper.
Three films, all insanely different, dealing with completely opposed subject matter, but somehow all three have left an indelible imprint on me and all three are truly special pieces of visual fiction.
Thanks to the magic of Bluray, I ventured into the past, prior to the advances of the civil rights movement, courtesy of Tate Taylor’s exceptional direction of the Kathryn Stockett bestselling novel, “The Help.” Emma Stone was good, as she usually is, but this isn’t about Emma Stone. Truthfully, I feel like her role could have been played by a handful of similar actresses to basically identical effect. The stars of this film are Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, who portray Aibileen and Minny, respectively. These two women don’t just act, they assault the screen and completely take it over basically from start to finish. Not to be outdone is the amazing and drop dead gorgeous Jessica Chastain and tremendous work from Bryce Dallas Howard. The former is likely to garner an Academy Award nomination when they’re announced tomorrow. (Update - Viola, Octavia, and Jessica all three got nods - no surprise, all well-deserved.)
If you haven’t seen the film, the briefest of a plot description would be that southern whites at a certain class level in general treated their servants like garbage and it irritated a young woman hoping to make a mark in journalism. She sought out Aibileen and later Minny to tell first-hand stories of their lives as the help and what their actual opinions are of treatment, compensation, respect, and everything in between. Understanding the time period would reveal just how truly dangerous this undertaking was for all involved and basically, there’s your framework. The final product takes a relatively simple plot and shows the audience a world it doesn’t expect in terms of depth. The acting from top to bottom is special, both the heroes and the villains are perfectly placed. Dialogue is rock solid, but the direction and cinematography itself feel much more expert than many films of this type.
Every year, there’s generally one film that stands out internally as extremely important or memorable, yet still feels familiar. I call it the “Forrest Gump effect.” Plenty of films have emerged since Hanks’ classic that have a certain air to them. A good example would be David Fincher’s variation on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Something about the flashbacks used, the narration over them, the length of the films, and even the scenery… all just sort of works in the same way that Forrest Gump did seventeen years ago. If you watch that particular film, you leave with a similar reaction. I submit to you that “The Help” has a Forrest Gump effect to be sure, but it also breaks out into a movie with depth and warmth that surpasses many of its predecessors in the category. It’s quite simply a fabulous film. Every decision that Taylor makes with his movie is the correct choice. It’s a home run of a motion picture.
Next, we move to one of my favorite directors, although he hasn’t made the sheer volume of films that my top three or four have and my opinion is thus based on a smaller sample size… and I was disappointed overall in “About Schmidt.” Alexander Payne returns in a big way with his tale of a middle-aged man who is dealing with the impending death of his wife as a result of a severe boating accident. We find out the marriage had serious problems, generally because our protagonist is busy with both his career as a lawyer as well as dealing with his extended family and their fortune. As his wife struggles to survive while in a coma, Matt King wants to fix things and try harder to make it work. He then has to deal with his two daughters, the older of which is into a bit of alcohol and has dealt with drug problems.
Then we find out from the older daughter - the wife was having an affair that caused huge strife between the mother and her child. And there you go, for the next 100 minutes after the early revelation, we see George Clooney, in the best performance of his life, learn to be a better and more active father while making the final decision on his family’s Hawaiian property. He also has to decide how to handle the news of his significant other’s infidelity and whether to take some type of action related to the situation. Payne shoots the film entirely in Hawaii and uses authentic music from the area to set the stage. It never feels cheesy, it never feels overdone, it just feels perfect. The soundtrack, all chosen by Payne, is spectacular. ”The Descendants,” the name of this gem, is without fail one of the two best films of the year outside of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” which won’t be nominated of course.
This is the role where Clooney really shows just how great he is… in fact, I might go so far as to say he’s the best in the business, even surpassing Depp and Gosling and Bale - the only caveat to that opinion is that George often plays the same character emotionally. What I really want to see is more range going forward, but without any doubt, he’s this generation’s early DeNiro in terms of stature (or a relative facsimile.)
Payne could win for director, it’s certainly possible, and the truth of the matter is that whatever awards “The Descendants” wins, there’s really no way to argue against the honors. Time will tell as to what accolades the film earns, but the point to remember is that “The Descendants” is Payne’s most fully realized film. “Sideways” was brilliant… this is the next step for the man who also gave us the underrated cult classic, “Election.” I absolutely adored this movie.
Just this past Friday, I was finally able to see Michel Hazanavicius’ truly splendid film, “The Artist,” featuring landmark performances of the most stellar variety from Jean Jujardin and Berenice Bejo. Every once in a while, a movie arrives that catches the world completely off guard. “The Artist” may not be for everybody, because it’s such a radical change from what contemporary society has been programmed to accept in entertainment, but it’s the most fun I’ve had in a movie theater in ages.
It’s a silent movie. Let me repeat that: It’s a silent movie. Not silent in some ridiculous way, but silent in the classic fashion that most people have only seen on old newsreels or via YouTube. It’s all done for a reason, namely to tell the story of the most famous actor of the silent era (fictitious) having to deal with his world changing thanks to the advent of voice and sound technology on screen. All the while, he’s married to a woman and the two really never fit together, and he meets a random fan in an interesting way. That fan then becomes, to avoid spoilers, not just a fan anymore. This story plays out in silence, with an absolutely unforgettable score from Ludovic Bource. The score has already won a Golden Globe, but feels like a shoe-in for the Oscar.
Not one second of this film is wrong, although it does venture into some tough territory, stuff the silent era would not have touched, reminding the audience that “The Artist” is a contemporary story about the silent era… using the silent era… but with the problems that were kept behind closed doors. I left the theater with a feeling I honestly am unsure I’ve ever had before. It was just pure jubilation mixed with a permagrin. It was so much fun to experience “The Artist” on every level, from the acting to the direction to Bource’s beautiful music to the pacing to the most memorable canine of the 21st century thus far. Good stuff as well (as usual) from John Goodman, as well as James Cromwell and Penelope Ann Miller. I can’t express to you how much I enjoyed “The Artist.”
If you could only see one film of all the nominees, I might suggest this one, because it’s so unique and so well-executed and so perfect. You’ve seen NOTHING like this at any point in your life. This is an absolute classic. It was pure joy from start to finish and both the two leads were almost embarrassingly good at what they did - Bejo and Jujardin will forever be Peppy Miller and George Valentin.
So here’s the deal, for the first time in a while, I really can’t tell you what film should win Best Picture. I haven’t seen all the top level stuff yet, but I’ve viewed the vast majority of it. “The Descendants” and “The Artist” have to be the front-runners for the top honor, but certainly “The Help” is nearby.
Also incredible is Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” his best film in a while, the very solid and awesome (colloquial but it’s an apt description) “Moneyball,” Martin Scorsese’s overlooked “Hugo,” for which he won a directing Golden Globe last week, and controversial films like “Shame,” “Tree of Life,” and even possibly something like “Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close,” which opened this past Friday for most of the country and bears strong resemblances to the overall concepts of “Hugo.”
If I had a vote, my HP bias would go straight to “Deathly Hallows Part 2,” which made my top five since 2005 along with “The Dark Knight,” “The Departed,” “Up in the Air,” and “The Social Network.” It won’t be nominated and so I’m completely torn. The good news is that everybody in America and around the globe has a chance to see many of these films over the next several years.
You guys and gals should absolutely attempt to see all three of the earlier discussed films as well as everything from the last paragraph - PLUS “The Ides of March,” “Drive,” and of course (those who know me knew this was coming) “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” also known as “Welcome to the Thespian A-List Rooney Mara.”
One quick point on Mara is this: one of the reasons she probably will not win many awards is because she’s attempting the impossible. She’s trying to step in and play Lisbeth Salander after Noomi Rapace. Mara was incredible, but as a huge fan of Stieg Larsson’s series, let me tell you that Rapace IS Lisbeth Salander. If you have any doubts, watch either the painted face scene or the final fifteen minutes of “The Girl Who Played With Fire.”
In terms of actress, Viola Davis would be my choice… or maybe Bejo (actually I’m really torn here as well), but it’s impossible to argue against Meryl Streep. “The Iron Lady” was not a great movie. It was a good film, but wasn’t the perfect Thatcher biopic that many had hoped for… what “The Iron Lady” was though is another vehicle to show Meryl Streep as the most gifted actress… ever. She was absolutely magnificent. Jim Broadbent was excellent as well. The film was marginal in terms of it’s genre. It was no “The King’s Speech” for example, but Streep was off the page. This of course is probably the least surprising thing you’ve read in 2012.
Oh, and with that crazy long list, I forgot to mention a sensational year for big-budget popcorn blockbusters, both of the superhero… and non-superhero variety.
Whoa whoa whoa, “Green Lantern,” stay in your seat. We’ll call for you when we get to “Biggest Disappointments in Film History” in a later column. 2011-12 is perhaps the most loaded field in terms of Best Picture nominees that I can remember since becoming old enough to truly appreciate and pay attention to motion pictures on a fully mature level. I’m completely lost as to what I would cast my vote for of what will be nominated, but it’s because of the extreme quality… not the lack thereof. THAT is an excellent statement to be able to write.
Go see some movies - right NOW.
Oh… and then there’s this: The Hunger Games coming soon (in process of reading the end of the trilogy - and I am LOVING the hell out of it folks)… plus the sequel to my all-time favorite film and from my favorite director (Dark Knight if you’ve been living under a rock) as well as our boy Joss Whedon tackling The Avengers!
Oh what a long strange trip it’s been… in a Jerry Garcia kind of mood as we prepare to put 2011 to its permanent resting place. In the world this year we saw the end of Usama, the beginning of the Arab Spring, mischaracterized as a great thing by the mainstream media, as well as the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State, the potential end of the EU as Greece and Italy are on the brink, the S&P downgrade of the United States, and two important weddings… the Royal Wedding, and that other one that lasted about as long as my last trip to South Carolina. So here’s the good news:
- This review is NOT about the year of the protester or Herman Cain or the EU or Iran or anything else. It’s about television, pure and simple. I have two passions in life – sports and mass culture. I watch entirely too much television, there’s my confession. While you’ll be out boozing it up and partying, I will be at home catching up on a serial drama tonight quietly with a Diet Coke. I had my party two weeks ago.
So from a television obsessive, probably the biggest one you know, let’s be honest… you’ve seen my updates and previous blogs and social media posts and may have listened to my podcast with Andrew Van and realize that… damn, this brother watches a crapload of the small screen. What that hopefully means for you is that THIS piece is one you’ll get some value out of, because you know it’s coming from someone who spends a ton of time watching, analyzing, and simply thinking about stories, characters, actors, soundtracks, directors, and networks.
Last year’s edition, the FIFTH (can’t believe it’s been that long) of its kind, was really long. So let me apologize in advance. I’m afraid this year’s entry might be even lengthier, but I hope you enjoy it. So there’s the opening ceremonies, it’s time to get down to brass tacks (anyone know what that classic cliché actually means, please let me know) and knock out these lists. We begin with drama… with MAJOR upheaval from 2010 rankings.
Also, there are NO spoilers included at all. I want you to get involved in the part of the list you haven’t seen yet, so spoiling it would defeat the purpose.
Keep in mind as we start that Mad Men is NOT ELIGIBLE for consideration because they took the year off amidst contract issues with AMC. It’s still the best show on television, but that should not at all take away from the amazing shows we’re about to talk about. Now, from bottom to top – here we go.
10. FRINGE
I am going to try and keep the reasoning as brief as possible. It’s one of my favorite shows and had an exceptional third season, though the finale was less than stellar. Torv and Jackson have tremendous chemistry on screen and John Noble remains one of the most talented actors on television that most people overlook. Has the story become convoluted? Yes. We have multiple universes with clones and anti-characters and space-time continuum shifts galore. Is it still well-produced, thought out, and arguably the boldest show in recent memory? Yes. In season three, we saw a full episode done as a musical, two tremendous flashback episodes, and a late season entry that was 75% ANIMATED inside of Olivia Dunham’s mind.
9. THE WALKING DEAD
You know I’m a big Robert Kirkman guy. I love Invincible, Astounding Wolf-Man, and of course the Walking Dead. The television treatment has apparently been getting ripped by the mainstream for being “too boring” but in my experience, it hasn’t felt that way. AMC’s version of the serial comic relies on slow build and a constant unease masked in serenity and scenery. Plenty of changes have been made for television, as is always the case, but the underlying point of the show has not been lost. What people never realize until they watch (or more importantly, read) is that this show is… not… about… zombies. Actually, the word “zombie” doesn’t exist in Kirkman’s world, because Romero’s films never happened in his vision. The undead (or virused-up) are called “Walkers” because that’s what they do and it works in a literal translation. This show is about people and more specifically, what lengths humans will resort to in a hopeless situation. What will these individuals do to each other to stay alive? Is anyone safe? Scum does not change simply because there’s a defined “enemy” for humanity, it actually enhances the villainy.
We still have a ways to go and I’m waiting for the one moment from early in the comics that hasn’t happened yet – once that occurs, the story matures and takes on a more familiar shape. I expect that moment to close Season 2, although I felt it could have done so last year as well.
8. CHUCK
One of the luckiest occurrences of the past several years on television is how atrocious NBC’s management and leadership have consistently been. Ratings flops all over the place, terrible time slots, and do I need to say more than “The Jay Leno Show?” Because of the failure and ineptitude, Chuck has managed to stay on the air for five seasons with AWFUL ratings. It’s a brilliant show, written and performed by people that buy into the underlying idea behind the story. In its essence, Chuck is a geek-male fantasy.
Bartowski plays video games and waxes poetic about George Lucas and reads Y: The Last Man, but he ends up the most dangerous weapon in the world, a spy with a computer inside his brain that enables unlimited physical and mental capabilities. He also gets the girl… and not just any girl, but Sarah Walker, the girl of EVERYONE’S dreams. He has a great best friend who eventually gets into the act and he ends up living out the life of much of what he’s watched on screen throughout his life. The show ends in five weeks, closing out Schwartz and Fedak’s vision of what they wanted.
Season 5 has been a mixed bag but overall has been very enjoyable and along with the last half of Season 4, the writers have tried to do as much fan service as possible to satisfy and please those who’ve been with the show since the beginning. It’s a show that people will find in five or ten years on Netflix and it will endure. It’s funny, it’s smart, it’s clever, it’s Chuck. There’s nothing else like it. The first three years, this was easily a top five show and a top THREE in terms of pure entertainment.
7. BOARDWALK EMPIRE
I’ve got to be honest with you; I really thought this would be a top five show in 2011. I loved both seasons but quite frankly, other stuff is just simply better. It certainly isn’t the fault of the acting, directing, or writing. Boardwalk is a tremendous show, and I think Michael Pitt is unquestionably Emmy-worthy. Buscemi is tremendous and everybody, from Arnold Rothstein to Chalky White, is consistently entertaining.
The show explores prohibition, cronyism, the role of women in 20s America, racism, class struggles, and everything in between. Scorsese, with the exception of only Nolan and Fincher, is my favorite all-time director. Sopranos alumni including the brilliant Terrence Winter put the show together. You should absolutely watch it, without any question. I continue to watch Boardwalk Empire and think that it should be something more, which is perhaps unfair given the pedigree.
Any show that makes this list is amazing, but from a purely subjective standpoint, I simply have a better time watching the items to come. I hope BE is on the air for six years and continues to grow. It’s a special program.
6. TREME
David Simon, mastermind behind The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street, is still trying to make his case to the ridiculous Emmy voting community of just how good he is. The Wire will forever go down as the biggest snub in award history, as it garnered almost no nominations and is widely considered to be the greatest drama in the history of television. Homicide was a show that may have been a little ahead of its time, but still magnificent and helped to launch the careers of talented actors like Andre Braugher.
Treme doesn’t rate well respective to premium dramas and a lot of folks simply just haven’t watched it, but Season 2 was INCREDIBLE. Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters are just two of the reasons, but the lovely Kim Dickens, a host of legendary jazz musicians, Oscar-winner Melissa Leo, and even David Morse all helped round out Season 2. Oh wait, I forgot Khandi Alexander, whose work SCREAMS for recognition. She’s not from this world, seriously. Rob Brown’s work sometimes doesn’t get mentioned, but the Delmond Lambreaux character is a personal favorite along with Janette.
Tough storylines, this year focusing on crime and a lack of authority and control in post-Katrina New Orleans served as the backdrop for the most powerful drama of the year from a human perspective.
5. JUSTIFIED
It may be hurt just a bit because it finished up so much earlier than much of the list, but Season 2 fulfilled the promise of Elmore Leonard’s vision of US Marshal Raylan Givens. Walton Goggins put on what might have been as good a Supporting Actor performance as we’ve seen in a while… along with two other guys who’ll be mentioned in just a bit. Margo Martindale’s was as justified (sorry) an Emmy as I can remember and Jeremy Davies and company all performed big time.
The stories heated up, Rebecca Creskoff added another layer to the festivities, and FX showed yet again that they are a network to be reckoned with. Justified was a ratings success, finding the right niche and exploding into mainstream. If someone called it the best show on TV, I’d have no argument. Acting, directing, pacing, and one of the best one season storylines of the year, Justified is a total knockout. Kaitlyn Dever, by the way, is the best child actor on television. She isn’t “young” but she’s of the age where acting is still often a learning process – and she’s mastered it.
4. GAME OF THRONES
Without hyperbole, Game of Thrones is gorgeous. The scenery, cinematography, and editing are unbelievable. Winterfell is beautiful and rugged, all at once. George R.R. Martin’s world renowned book series found a home on HBO and proved something that to this point was very much in question, and did so with twenty yards to spare. High fantasy CAN be done on television and CAN be successful on a grand scale.
Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Kit Harrington, Emilia Clarke, Michelle Fairley, Mark Addy, and oh yeah, Emmy winner Peter Dinklage, whose Tyrion Lannister jumped off the screen (and fits with Goggins as timeless performances along with… you’ll have to keep reading)… the list goes on and on. The Song of Ice and Fire series is incredibly dense, packed with an enormous cast of characters that Martin is somehow able to keep together. The show, to its credit, with Martin on the staff as producer and consultant, does the same.
Stories all over the place with different families and races, all happening simultaneously and yet Game of Thrones never feels confusing. I called it the new “IT” thing in pop culture on our podcast and I firmly believe that you’ll be seeing random GOT shirts and logos and patches and all the rest on faux-hipsters all over the place. The difference is, Game of Thrones effin rules, and Twilight… doesn’t.
Blu-Ray out in a few weeks and Season 2 lurks in less than four months… 2012 may well be the year of Game of Thrones. Remember what happened to True Blood in Season 2? Take that, add a more diehard base of readers, and then keep in mind that GOT was better from the beginning. Ratings? Check.
3. HOMELAND
I was finally able to sit down on Wednesday and watch Season 1 in its entirety and it is one of the great viewing pleasures I’ve ever experienced. Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, best known for their work on 24, particularly Gordon, who served as Executive Producer since 2002, come back to television bringing gifts.
Homeland is 24 on premium television. It’s 24 without the inane plot twists that had to happen to fill 24 episodes. It’s 24 with maturity and care. It’s 24, the Psychological Version, with more depth and a different scale of emotion and tactic.
That’s the best way to describe this story that centers on Nicholas Brody, a missing United States Marine who is found in Iraq after eight years. He’s on his way home, but there’s a problem, namely whether he’s still on our side or not. Claire Danes plays CIA Agent Carrie Mathison, who within the first fifteen minutes of the first episode learns while in Baghdad as part of a semi-flashback that allegedly an American POW has been turned by radical Islamic fundamentalist, Abu Nazir. She believes it to be Brody, who arrives in DC as a National Hero and the story of the year… and there’s your background.
The acting in this show is just ridiculous. Danes is right there with Edie Falco’s best years and Glenn Close’s high points on Damages. Her Emmy isn’t just a hope, it had better be a reality. It would be a see-arr-eye-emm-ee CRIME not to see her win. She plays crazy better than anyone has ever done… but Carrie’s still excellent at her job. She’s very much like Jack Bauer, believing that the ends justify whatever is necessary to root out terrorism on American soil.
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody – that’s Emmy worthy. Mandy Patinkin (so glad to see him back on TV) as Saul Berenson – that’s without a doubt Emmy worthy as well. Take this side of the storyline and add into it the personal lives and relationships that exist for all the main characters and you have the best new show since Lost.
2. SONS OF ANARCHY
Season 4 of SOA found the biggest ratings in show history and some of FX’s highest… ever. Kurt Sutter’s tale of a motorcycle club in California is about as much about an MC as The Wire was about drugs or Breaking Bad is about… drugs or The Walking Dead is about zombies. The show is a mix of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet… put directly into the world and workings of the Sopranos.
The guy that never gets talked about is Charlie Hunnam, but it’s arguable that Jax Teller is one of the top five characters of the decade on television – and Hunnam’s acting is second to none. Ron Perlman’s Clay Morrow is a joy to watch and Katey Sagal has yet again knocked it out of the park as Gemma. This year, Maggie Siff really stepped up a bit more as Tara became a character with even more depth and intelligence. Her performance was excellent.
SOA consistently features the best soundtrack on television and Season 4 was no different. The season finale was less jarring than in previous years but was no less emotional. Perhaps the single defining memory of the year was the snapshot photograph of Jax/Tara morphing from John/Gemma’s old picture from years before. If it wasn’t, only one other tops it. Tig, Chibs, Juice, Piney… they all had great moments. Ryan Hurst was magnificent form start to finish as Opie Winston and Dayton Callie continues to shine as Wayne Unser.
Danny Trejo’s character and storyline both worked well, but what really shined as far as “new” additions were the performances of Ray McKinnon as Linc Potter and Rockmond Dunbar as Eli Roosevelt. There’s basically not a bad performance to be found on SOA – never has been, and Season 5 is poised to be HUGE for FX.
While people were paying attention to the most overrated show of the year, Murphy’s overdone and plot-thin American Horror Story… Sons of Anarchy continued to run every week and raise its own bar. It’s a magical hour every week and should never be missed. It’s another show the Emmy voters need to wake up and check out, but they won’t, because… well… they’re the Emmy voters. It’s why most critics don’t care about the Emmys.
1. BREAKING BAD
This is a very bold statement, but I’m going to make it now and forever hold my peace: Bryan Cranston’s performance of Walter White is THE BEST MALE ACTING PERFORMANCE IN TELEVISION HISTORY. What’s scary is that the work continues to get better.
Season 4 of the show upped the ante in almost every way and concluded in a finale that featured an unforgettable moment (the only thing that stands up to the photograph mentioned earlier) involving Gustavo Fring and his face. I’ll leave it there so you can enjoy it for yourself.
Goggins, Dinklage… and then there’s Aaron Paul, who previously won the Best Supporting Actor Emmy and deserves it every year along with his colleagues in the category. Jesse Pinkman is the other side of the Breaking Bad coin and while we saw him holding week long parties and video game sessions in his house, we also saw him break down emotionally yet again and resort to deplorable actions. We also saw the Jesse Pinkman that wanted to be better and tried to take steps to improve his life.
Walter White’s family life remained in upheaval but in a different way as he got a bit closer to his wife in some ways and took on a new business venture. Anna Gunn’s performance as Skyler White was top notch again. Hank, performed better than ever by the excellent Dean Norris, dealt with rehabilitation and physical therapy and his wife went back to her old ways amidst his harsh treatment. Saul Goodman… well, he’s still Saul. And then there’s Mike – he’s just a joy to watch on screen. Giancarlo Esposito’s work as Gus Fring deserves attention. He’s the most terrifying character anywhere on TV and particularly the occurrences with the box cutter remain burned into my brain.
One more year of Breaking Bad to go, an extended 16 episode swan song, probably a heap of awards along with it, and I say, bring it on. It’s as good as television gets, along with all of the Top 5. BB sits atop a very worthy group of life-changing programs.
Now to Comedy… much briefer, and just the top five, again in reverse order:
5. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
We’re getting to the end of the line, can you feel it? We’re going to get the Barney/Robin thing, that much I know, the question is simply how long they want to drag it out. No more Jennifer Morrison, whose storyline was awful last year for the most part, and we’re back to the narrator’s character, Ted Mosby, being background fodder, which continues to bother me to some extent.
Great chemistry, a lot of fun, still consistently entertaining, and HIMYM still has the ability to throw together real and honest emotion and depth after an episode of total nonsense and toilet humor. Just when you might be approaching the level of “tune out,” something major happens and the credits roll and you’re right back the next Monday.
4. THE BIG BANG THEORY
As I write this, TBBT is on in the background on random loop on my PC. That’s a general occurrence, as I’ve been a fan since my co-host introduced me to the show late in Season 1. We’ve loved it and continue to do so, especially now that Priya is a thing of the past. I hated that storyline more than anything on TV in 2011, mainly because she existed simply to draw out the Leonard/Penny relationship lull before finally putting them together for good, which I predict takes place at the conclusion of this year’s finale.
The ratings are undeniable and deserved, but NBC should be flogged for what they put against it, because THAT show deserves better. Parsons’ performance is still as good as you’ll see, particularly because of the difficulty in reading lines that quickly that contain so much technical jargon and nerd humor while staying in character.
3. LOUIE
Louis CK’s show is so unique because FX gives him free reign. If he wants the usual introduction to run to start the show, it happens… sometimes with no cold open, sometimes with just a cold open and skipping the credits. If he wants the show to be funny for 30 minutes, it is. If he wants it to largely be a drama for an hour, FX is cool with that, as they were during the excellent Afghanistan episode this year. If he wants two stories in the episode, they split it and it happens. If he wants one story to take the entire half-hour, it happens. If he wants this episode to be ultra-vulgar and at times hard to watch, it’s not a problem.
There’s a reason why FX allows this to happen week after week: Louis CK (and Pamela Adlon) are brilliant. So is their show.
2. COMMUNITY
Dan Harmon is a genius, he’s also emotionally distant, has a difficult time in social situations, and likes random and obscure pop culture references, particularly cult classics and television series.
So he creates Abed, a character with Asperger syndrome (well, close) who relates to the world through his obsession with television shows, movies, and characters. He dresses up as Batman and talks all night like the Dark Knight. He takes an actual college course on the classic ABC sitcom, Who’s the Boss, and eventually stumps the teacher with his level of knowledge. He sets up his friend and study group cohort, Jeff Winger, in a situation simply to recreate My Dinner With Andre.
While all of this is taking place, the study group, made up of an ensemble cast that has chemistry on another level… go through regular activities cut through Harmon’s prism of “anything goes.” An episode becomes anime halfway through, the group gets caught in a KFC space shuttle and recreates The Right Stuff, paintball representations of beloved action films, chicken nuggets used as a catalyst to recreate GoodFellas, multiple timelines, and Dungeons and Dragons in a way that will NEVER be topped.
It’s all in a day’s work for Community, the boldest and most original show to hit network television… ever? Maybe. NBC has butchered the time slot and has no idea how to advertise or push the show, but it’s live action meta… pop culture throughout, and nothing is off the table. Harmon is rare in this world, but we’re better for having him in it.
1. PARKS AND RECREATION
Parks is so good that it could rival Breaking Bad. You can’t find bad episodes (past Season 1, some of the early stuff was somewhat dull) and the consistency continues to rise. The show keeps getting better, week after week, and every casting decision has been perfect.
Rob Lowe and Adam Scott join the show… and it enhanced everything in a positive manner. Amy Poehler is one of the more talented females in show business and has been since she first burst onto the scene with the Upright Citizens Brigade. Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson is my personal favorite character on TV… and Aziz Ansari’s Tom Haverford is right up there with him. Even the semi-regulars, particularly Ben Schwartz as Jean Ralphio, aren’t just good, they’re EXCEPTIONAL.
Aubrey Plaza’s work has continued to grow and she’s always fun to watch, and then there’s Chris Pratt, whose Andy character was annoying and bothersome during Season 1 and is now… exactly the opposite.
Parks doesn’t make missteps. Parks doesn’t have dull weeks. Parks doesn’t waste an episode. Parks and Recreation is simply a perfect 30 minute sliver of television every week. If, by some chance, you haven’t seen the show… stop reading right now and start.
*****
And finally… the procedurals and self-contained, just a list this time, and the reason I include this is because I LOVE THESE SHOWS for what they are. I can always put one on in the background. I love every new episode. They’re fun, they often have strong cast chemistry, and they don’t take themselves too seriously. However, the best ones generally have a congruent storyline that continues through all the “caper of the week” stuff and drives the success.
It’s too hard to rate them, so here’s the Top 5, all of which I watch religiously and generally have seen every ep many times, in no particular order.
1. LEVERAGE, 2. WHITE COLLAR, 3. COVERT AFFAIRS, 4. BURN NOTICE, 5. SUITS (6. THE MENTALIST)
If I had the Emmy ballot:
BEST ACTOR: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) (Damian Lewis and Charlie Hunnam honorable mention)
BEST ACTRESS: Claire Danes (Homeland)
BEST DRAMA: Breaking Bad
BEST COMEDY: Parks and Recreation
MOST OVERLOOKED: Community
THREE-MAN-WEAVE AWARD (Supporting Actor): Dinklage, Goggins, Paul
BEST NEW SHOW: Homeland by 2600 MILES
BEST NEW SHOW OUTSIDE OF TOP 10: Once Upon a Time (Too early to tell, really liking it thus far)
SHOW I EXPECTED LAST YEAR TO SEE IN TOP 10: Person of Interest (Ways to go, but promising start)
2012 SHOW TO WATCH (It will win many awards): Luck
STAYED TOO LONG AWARD: Entourage (Should have ended on the Martin Scorsese phone call.)
BEST NETWORKS FOR TELEVISION (In order): AMC, FX, HBO, USA, CBS
And there you have it, there will be Top 10s in film, music, and games/books to come, obviously somewhat shorter than this beast, but I hope it was an enjoyable read. If you made it this far, you deserve some kind of prize, so go check your front door. No no no, not something from me, I’m just hoping someone else mailed you a gift of some sort.
You guys and gals out there have a Happy New Year and again, if you didn’t watch something on this list and need something new for your spare time, by all means, jump into these.
My name is Jason. I love television and enjoy writing about it… as I do film and other sides of pop culture and of course sports. I may need to see a therapist, but I’m too busy watching Homeland to care.
Thanks for taking a few minutes… or a few days… to read my work. Have yourself a pleasant day… now taking you back to your regularly scheduled programming.
-JM
I cleverly decided to compose this final portion of my NBA’s biggest questions series three days after I had advertised it simply because I wanted to “not show up” just as today’s topic didn’t in the 2011 NBA Finals. Okay, so that’s just a coincidence - things just came up and I wasn’t able to get to the piece until today. But let’s do it now…even though the cat (topic) is clearly already out of the proverbial bag (why a feline was in a sack, I have no idea).
5. THE HEATLES - IS IT PENNY LANE, HELP, OR WHILE THE GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS?
Here we go, it might be a little shorter, but as everyone knows, I often say that and then write two thousand words. The plan is to break Number Five down into three distinct sections. In case you were living next to the Geico caveman (or Gecko, I don’t know what you do in your spare time), we’re clearly talking about the Miami Heat.
Last season it took some time for the Heatles to gel as they took some early lumps including on opening night to the defending Eastern Conference Champions in Boston. Speculation poured out all across the country that the team was too thin outside of the “Big Three” and then Chris Bosh became the target for being an overrated big man, earning the dreaded “soft” label from the national media. Head coach Erik Spoelstra was “out of his league” and experts from across the sports landscape, particularly at the four letter (that’s the one that ends in “PN”), eagerly spoke of how long it would take Pat Riley to hop down from his executive role and lead the team to the Championship, which he did once before.
One quick aside: People constantly talk about Stan Van Gundy being “future endeavored” by Riley, who wanted to steal the glory and push him out of town. If you know the facts, you’ll know that Van Gundy had some health and family concerns that were LEGIT and he was not told to go home and spend time with his family. It’s a running joke, but it’s erroneous. It’s the equivalent of “Bush stole the election in Florida.” It’s abject nonsense and it hurts Stan Van much more than Riles.
The Heat got it under control despite having to deal with injuries to new acquisition Mike Miller and longtime Heat stalwart Udonis Haslem, who had been a major “glue” guy for the Heat for many years, often taking less money to stay there and help them out. Mario Chalmers settled more into the starting point guard role, though inexplicably Spoelstra consistently tried to force a past-his-prime (miles past it) Mike Bibby into the lineup…and Bibs couldn’t guard me in 2011.
They reached the finals and we all know how it ended…LeBron disappeared, D-Wade held his follow-through in front of the Mavs bench with the Heat up double figures late in the fourth quarter of Game Two, and from that point on it was a totally different Dallas team and an incensed Jason Terry. Add to the Mavs motivation the Wade/LeBron mock of Dirk’s illness and the Heat got what they deserved in many respects. But as we head into the shortened season, Vegas has Miami atop the odds at 2-1. So what will happen? Which Heatles song will Miami play as their encore to close out the concert?
PENNY LANE? It doesn’t directly represent anything except that it’s a very upbeat tune that leads to constant head bobs and a positive attitude. If the Heat reach Penny Lane on the setlist, it means they’ve won the Championship, and what that means is that LeBron James has finally shown up like the player he is in the regular season…on the biggest stage. Right now, James is Peyton Manning prior to the Super Bowl win over Rex Grossman, but the self-proclaimed “King” has made PR mistakes and walked away from the state he grew up in to play with his friends in South Beach. Peyton still had the fans and was seen as royalty on and off the field because of his conduct and how he handled himself.
Dwyane Wade may well be the best player in the NBA although I still give the title to Kobe. He has to take over in the postseason…at least until James finally snatches the trophy himself and dominates the basketball game. It would mean Lebron would have to rebound, block shots (his famous chase-downs), and most importantly, stay aggressive and not settle for jump shots. His shooting is moderate, his three point shooting is completely inconsistent, but along with Derrick Rose, he’s basically unstoppable when he makes the full commitment to attack the rim.
The supporting cast has to show up, yes, but the big three must ALL live up to their name. If Miami is able to land Tyson Chandler, that’s a huge move. As the free agency period begins in a few days, watch the Heat. With one more key piece it would be an utter disappointment and a sheer failure if they DIDN’T win the Championship.
HELP? This one’s short and sweet. Three guys can’t play five positions. Miami has to find a solution at center and be comfortable with a point guard. Chalmers should be the guy. He’s confident, he’s deadly from deep in the clutch, and he has a high basketball IQ. The aforementioned Tyson Chandler move would give Miami true toughness, defense, and rebounding in the paint and would make them a ridiculously formidable team. The bench has to contribute and can’t be as hot and cold as they were last year - I’m looking in your general direction, Eddie House… and I haven’t forgotten about you, Mike Bibby. Most likely those guys won’t be a part of the roster through the season.
The other side of the help sits in the first seat on the bench. Throughout key games last season, Coach “Spo” had serious issues drawing up solid plays coming out of timeouts as well as smart schemes down the stretch, particularly in the last three or four minutes. He must improve in this area, it’s a non-negotiable in terms of a Miami championship. Look at Doc Rivers in Boston for an example of the opposite - Rivers is masterful at designing plays in timeouts and is a genius at setting up the right cut and the right look to finish strong. Spoelstra is a talented guy who has worked extremely hard to get to this point, but in this regard, I say again, he…must…do…more.
WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS? This one’s as succinct as it gets. We all remember how last season ended for the Miami Heat. If nothing changes in terms of LeBron’s killer instinct in the finals, Spoelstra’s high-pressure play calling, and an inconsistent and thin bench, guess what’s going to happen?
That’s right, exactly the same thing, or perhaps not even reaching the Finals.
With those three pieces in the prime of their careers, it is inexcusable for the Heat not to win a Championship. Furthermore, it’s inexcusable for them to fail in that attempt - IN 2012. This is their year if they want it.
So there you have it, five things that should make us all thankful that our beloved Association is back on Christmas Day. Five games on the 25th, wall to wall hoops, and you know yours truly will be parked in front of the flat screen from start to finish. One final statement: I love Inside the NBA. I love Ernie, Kenny, Chuck, and C-Webb (although now it’s Shaq and my boy Webber was the odd man out) and that show is everything that’s right about studio sports shows. I’m almost as excited for the return of Inside as I am for the NBA itself.
Bring it on - it’s going to be a fantastic NBA season. It’s “Where Amazing Happens” right? Yeah it was cheesy to use that, but so be it.
Today, let’s get right to it without much of a prelude. Monday we talked about the Lakers and Kobe Bryant, Tuesday we touched on Dwight Howard’s future, and yesterday we discussed the Durant-Westbrook duo.
4. WILL THE COMBO GUARD BE THE LAST POSITION STANDING?
The NBA point guard might be the most entertaining position to watch in all of basketball. It’s always fun to watch the big guys bang down low and work for position, but the speed, finesse, and especially the passing accuracy at the point are unequivocally fascinating. A good point guard is an almost hypnotic viewing experience. Think of the artistry of Magic, John Stockton, Pistol Pete, Isiah, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, and so many more who consistently make the right decision with the basketball and play the biggest role in their team’s success while being the smallest players on the floor. Generally, they can’t do it alone, but a point guard who makes everyone else on the squad better puts the team in a tremendous position relative to their competition.
Over the past several years, however, the NBA has played host to a dramatic shift in the point guard position as the size and skill set of many talented draft picks has changed. A combo guard is basically a shooting guard, both in size and offensive skill, also commonly referred to as a “2,” but who also has strong passing skills and other traits that reflect a “1” level of ability. These players are typically caught between the point and shooting guard designations, particularly at draft time when teams and analysts question potential labels and roles and thus they often end up described as a combination of both positions.
One of the original combo guards, because of his offensive mentality and unstoppable scoring ability, was multi-time all-star and former league MVP, Allen Iverson. A.I. would often play the point guard, as he had done while he was a superstar at Georgetown, but also could slide over and play the off guard when paired with a pass-first point like Eric Snow was for the 76ers.
Many young hopefuls idolized the success Iverson attained and were particularly enthralled with how much he was able to get out of a much smaller frame than most other scoring champions.
What now exists in the NBA is a mix of the traditional point guards such as the aforementioned Nash, Rondo, and Paul with the combo guards. Current New Jersey Nets point guard, Deron Williams, is often called a standard point guard, but personally I think he fits more as a combo guard, primarily because he is a bit more of a wide body and he is often the top offensive option on his team. That said, he’s a fantastic floor general and passer. It was true throughout his tenure in Utah and it’s absolutely true today. Another guy always deemed a combo guard is Dwyane Wade, but again, he rarely plays the point anymore, even less so now that LeBron James has stepped in and can play a tremendous “1” in his own right. Flash can handle the ball, no question, and he has led the Heat for many years, but I’ve always seen Wade as a shooting guard.
The poster child for the combo guard in the current NBA is last year’s MVP, Derrick Rose. The 6’3” wunderkind has been a force of nature since his first day with the Chicago Bulls in the Association and truthfully was an absolute monster at Memphis under current Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Had he made a few clutch free throws in the National Championship game, the Tigers would have defeated Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks. Rose averaged just north of twenty-five points per game last season along with seven assists. No one would say Derrick Rose wasn’t the main scoring option for the Bulls, who were offensively deficient outside of Rose and former Duke star Luol Deng.
Rose isn’t the only guy serving in the combo guard army, he’s now joined by relative NBA newcomers like Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Tyreke Evans in Sacramento, Monta Ellis in Golden State, who has yet to see a jump shot he doesn’t want to take, Dallas’ Jason Terry, Eric Bledsoe for the Clippers, and even Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey.
So now we get to the question itself, taking all this information into consideration.
Will a combo guard at the POINT finally win the NBA Championship?
As good as the combo guards are and as incredible as they are to watch, very rarely (almost never) have they actually ended up with a ring. Rose made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season but had to do far too much himself and was unable to match the Miami Heat. The Thunder walked into the truest pure point guard of the past fifteen years, future Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest to ever play the position, Jason Kidd.
Refresh my memory, what happened with Kidd’s team last season?
Lakers point guard Derek Fisher has won oodles of rings, Rondo has led the Celtics at the “1” to the top of the mountain, and Chauncey Billups, according to NBADraft.net, was originally a combo guard coming out of Colorado who completely changed the way he played…and won a Championship. The combo guard at the point has not proven to be a Championship formula. The concept has won plenty of basketball games, but not the ones that count in the end. Many combo guards often also seem to have extreme deficiencies on the defensive end, though not all.
Can Derrick Rose win the Championship this year? I think it’s much more likely the Bulls regress in 2011-12 with inconsistent play at virtually every spot outside of the point. I would love to have seen THIS Derrick Rose playing alongside the 2009 iteration of Ben Gordon, another combo guard who basically became a spot up shooter but would have given Rose a major asset from beyond the arc. For all of Rose’s brilliance, he’s not the most consistent free throw shooter and still doesn’t score all that efficiently from outside twelve feet.
Most combo guards are high volume shooters, including Rose, and Iverson might well be in the dictionary pictured next to the word “ballhog.” Derrick Rose’s explosiveness to the rack and his athleticism, however, are without question.
How about John Wall? Oh wait, he’s in Washington. Any of the others? Certainly Dwyane Wade could easily win it all again this year, but I still say at this point he’s a shooting guard with an outrageous level of skill in all facets of the game. He might well be the best player in basketball, though I still give a narrow edge to Kobe Bryant. So the early answer would be yes, provided that you classify D-Wade as a combo guard, which feels shady since he barely ever plays the point guard position.
Westbrook could also get it done in Oklahoma City, but the jury is certainly out on how he will come back from the criticism he received in the 2011 postseason.
One thing to watch is just how prevalent the combo guard is becoming…in college basketball. Jacob Pullen last year for Kansas State is a prime example. More and more, we’re seeing offensively gifted point guards who end up being the major scorers and look to pass as a second option. But it’s interesting to note that the true point guard has continued to be the model for success at the highest level. Maybe the streak ends this year, time will tell.
Friday…Number Five.