January 27, 2015

Killer TV: Women & The Fall...


We have just spent two weekends binge-watching  The Fall, a terrific British miniseries and its sequel starring Gillian Anderson (X Files) and Jamie Dornan (50 Shades Of Grey).

Anderson is Stella Gibson, a senior police officer investigating a string of murders in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Dornan is the serial killer she is pursuing.

Anderson's Gibson is a smart strong confident sexual career woman, and the actress is amazing in this. Dornan, a model turned sex symbol turned actor, shows he can act.  The first season is the deliberately paced discovery as they learn about each other over five episodes, and we see the crimes and the methodical investigation, and the second is their personal battleground over six episodes. 

This is not a boom/crash action-packed network TV... it is careful; every word and every action by the large cast of supporting characters matters and helps build the psychological profiles of the two leads.

I see a huge difference between The Fall and the shock and awe of weekly explosive violence porn series like Stalker or Criminal Minds

Unlike most police shows, here the cop and the killer are both leads. And at first, it is the ice queen investigator who is the outsider, vs the conventional family man suspect, as the show jumps back and forth between them, a riveting cat and mouse game building until when they will eventually come face to face. Both are compulsive and methodical, both have calm exteriors and seethe below the surface.

This is a show about women, from the victims to the investigator; as I thought about each female character, I thought of them as real people rather than the stock disposable characters we see in less aware TV shows -- the wife of an abusive husband who looks for solace in the arms of a stranger, a young babysitter who falls for her charge's father, the killer’s wife who knows nothing about his secret sex and murder tendencies, an obsessive police officer whose fascination with the psyche of a suspect becomes intertwined with her own sexual desire -- the care and intelligence given to each one of these women is remarkable.

The Fall is quiet and creepy and twisty and suspenseful ... and goes to some very dark places, especially with the killer's relationship with the family's teenage babysitter. Of all the personal journeys here, hers is the darkest as she becomes obsessed with her sexual father figure, who is a serial killer obsessed with pain and suffering.

This is our first contender for best TV of the year... If you have Netflix, or a friend with Netflix, or can make a new friend to get access to Netflix, watch The Fall.




January 23, 2015

See This Movie: Begin Again


Great little movie discovery we watched on demand this weekend... Begin Again, a 2014 charming, joyful movie starring Keira Knightley, Adam Levine, and a sexy scruffy Mark Ruffalo as musicians tackling life, love, and career in New York City.

John Carney, the writer and director of 2006's Oscar-winning Once, which I loved, has again put music at the centre of a 'little' movie. Ruffalo is a down and out music exec, Knightley is a vulnerable songwriter just dumped by her rock star boyfriend (Levine), and they meet in a bar at the end of one terrible day. And they save each other.

This is a gentle, touching flick; when Ruffalo pairs with Knightley and decides to record her album live on the streets of New York, the immediacy and brightness just shine. A colourful cast of characters join them on the streets to create and celebrate music. And the music is lovely.

Supporting players include Catherine Keener and Hailee Stanfield, who are great in small roles as Ruffalo's snarky ex and his rebellious teenage daughter.

The film is deceptively simple but with complex undertones and a big heart. Its joys are endless and Carney's portrayal of the characters, their relationships and the way music carries the narrative all make Begin Again a delight. 

Begin Again is funny and joyous, and the romance is less predicable than you'd think... relationships evolve, hearts are broken and music paves the way to resolutions, fulfilment and salvation.  

See Begin Again... which just got an Oscar nomination for best song for "Lost Stars".

 

January 19, 2015

Billy Crystal's Gay Sex Face...


Actor and comedian Billy Crystal, who played America’s first openly gay television character on the ground-breaking 70's sitcom Soap, has had enough of our gay sex.
In comments reported on the TheWrap from this weekend’s TV Critics Conference, he says today’s more frequent LGBT storylines may be going “a little too far” and “sometimes I think ah, that’s too much for me.”

My first question... is this about sex on TV, or about gay sex on TV?  Very different issues... is there too much straight sex on TV? 

If Crystal thinks TV has gone too far with sex scenes overall, I think that is a fair conversation to have; what is the family viewing hour and are we respecting that? There used to be clear lines before and after 9 PM… much as I admire Grey’s Anatomy, is it appropriate 8 PM television? That is the conversation to have, not whether that explicitness is gay or straight.

"I did it (played a gay character) in front of a live audience, and there were times where I would say to [the actor who played his boyfriend], 'Bob, “I love you,' and the audience would laugh nervously, because, you know, it’s a long time ago, that I’d feel this anger. I wanted to stop the tape and go, 'What is your problem?' Because it made you sort of very self-conscious about what we were trying to do then. And now it’s just, I see it and I just hope people don’t abuse it and shove it in our face — well, that sounds terrible — to the point of it just feels like an everyday kind of thing."

Crystal says gay sex on TV should not be an 'everyday thing'.. but why not?  I think yes it should be every day, shouldn’t it? Or at least no different from non-gay romance and sex.

Gay people -- and straight people --- have sex... and hold hands, and talk about their relationships.... and it is all good on TV, as long as it is within appropriate shows and time slots... so yes on How To Get Away With Murder at 10 PM on a weeknight, likely no on NCIS at 8 PM. And it shouldn't matter gay or straight.

And really, shouldn't we all be way more worried about the guns and violence on TV? That is really way more disturbing.

And a note to Mr Crystal, should you be reading this.... bad choice of words, buddy... besides seeming vaguely homophobic, which you clearly aren't, do you really want to create the visual of a gay dude putting his sex in your face?  Well ok, but please, not in the family hour....

January 18, 2015

Ha! SNL Spoofs Bieber...

After what can best be described as a mediocre fall season, Saturday Night Live came back last night with a strong episode, even with the annoying Kevin Hart as host.

The opener was smart, with the ghost of Martin Luther King taking on racism and the #OscarsSoWhite lack of nominations for Selma, and then the highlight was a take on the new Justin Beiber ads for Calvin Klein underwear.

In case you missed it, annoying hack pop tart boy-man Justin Beiber is the new face of Calvin Klein underwear, releasing a series of ads such as these...


So right away, TMZ and other websites published examples of the photoshopping here --- bigger biceps, more abs, more junk, and apparently more pubic hair (I'm afraid to look)... though Beiber's lawyers deny it.


As Beiber is a thoughtless douchey immature dolt, we all spoof him, so the hipsters got involved.....


And the comedians....


And here is SNL's masterstroke, having talented waif Kate McKinnon do a take on a Beiber commercial... she is awesome, and her Beiber is scary good. Enjoy...

January 13, 2015

Brooke Shields' Mommy Issues



Model/actress/80s icon Brooke Shields has released her second book, There Was A Little Girl, this one about the relationship with her late mother, Teri Shields.

Brooke Shields has always seemed kind and likable, from the Blue Lagoon days to her TV career, and as a grown up seemed smart and interesting despite a weird dating history... Michael Jackson? George Michael? John Travolta? Do you even like straight men?


In Brooke's heyday her mother was famous for (allegedly) being an overbearing outspoken stage mother. Her daughter defended her at the time. Now it turns out we didn't know the half of it.

According to There Was A Little Girl, Teri Shields was an insecure, social climbing, partying, alcoholic, angry hoarder who, yes, loved her daughter madly, and cashed in on that gravy train every chance she got.

Teri met and romanced the younger, richer Frank Shields, got pregnant, played hard to get, got married, had Brooke, got divorced, and then made her daughter her career... and her whole life.


I zoomed through this book. It is a fascinating read. Shields writes with an honesty and intimacy that feels like your smart best girlfriend is sharing her life stories with you over many glasses of wine.

While this is not an autobiography, and Shields ignores large chunks of her career, including many movies she refers to as "shitty", Shields certainly dishes here... some juicy bits:

  • being a controversial child star in Pretty Baby, 
  • fired by Calvin Klein after that famous jeans ad
  • losing her virginity to actor Dean Cain at age 22 
  • her failed first marriage to tennis legend Andre Agassi, a drug addict who helped her break free from Teri
  • her relationship with actor Liam Neeson a heavy drinker who proposed and then dumped her
  • the suicide of her Suddenly Susan costar David Strickland
  • and her now healthy marriage to writer Chris Henchy  
Shields would be well into her 20s before even tried to break free. When Brooke seeks new management after her marriage to Agassi, Teri accuses Brooke of “divorcing” her.

So yep she dishes. And yes it is fun. And it is also somewhat troubling how her mother over shadows so many of these relationships. Dysfunction, thy name is Shields.


Shields tells the story of a mother/daughter relationship with huge amounts of devotion and dysfunction, of Sundays at church when on the same day she knew which bars to hit to find her mother. 

At age 13 Shields stages the first intervention. It doesn't work.


Sadly, Teri never finds sobriety and the two never have true closure before Teri drifts into dementia and dies in 2013. Brooke, never able to break free, is at her side....“My mother did not want to die but she spent a lifetime killing herself.”

This is a touching, troubling, honest, and yes weirdly entertaining read. Totally recommend it.









January 11, 2015

Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Rock It


In case you missed the amazing Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting the Golden Globe Awards for the third -- and they say last time -- here is their opening monologue.

While saying they won't do this again --- so who the hell is gonna take that on? --- we can look forward to them co-starring in the big screen comedy Sisters this Christmas...



Lots of great lines in there, including about Bill Cosby and North Korea, but this feminist shot at Hollywood is my favourite:

George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin this year. Amal is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, was an advisor to Kofi Annan regarding Syria, and was selected to a three-person UN commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza Strip. So tonight, her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award...

January 9, 2015

The Book Was Better...


This flick had recipe for success written all over it, so you knew Murphy's Law was gonna kick it's ass at some point...

This Hollywood film had all the right ingredients: bestselling book which I loved (read my review here), all star cast including Tina Fey, Jason Bateman and Jane Fonda, successful director, big studio marketing...

We just watched This Is Where I Leave You, the 2014 Hollywood flick that was supposed to do way better critically and commercially than it ever did.

This Is Where I Leave You is the story of four adult children, all with their own infidelity and infertility dramas, who come home for their father's funeral, and are 'grounded' by their mother to sit shiva (Judaism's seven days of mourning to honour the dead) together. Humour, bonding and pratfalls ensue.

The movie is funny but slight, and yes we chuckled... watch it on cable, or when you are trapped on an airplane. It is a bland  Big Chill wannabe, a 2-hour Full House sitcom where the kids swear and fuck.

Even better, read the book. It is fantastic.

This movie is boob jokes and pot jokes and shtick with toilets, without real characters or real pain. The book was a smart touching funny family drama. I blame the director Shawn Levy (he of Night At The Museum and The Internship) and or the screenplay (surprisingly written by the book's author).

And one thing that really bugged me here... despite taking place at a shiva (the Jewish version of a wake), this is the least Jewishy supposed Jewish family since Ross and Monica on Friends. Could you not find even one Jewish person in Hollywood to help with this?

As of January 1st all ten seasons of Friends are on Netflix... watch that instead.

Why is the book always better?

January 6, 2015

Ten Favourite Gay Movies...



As we sit here watching the 2013 non-classic Hot Guys With Guns on Out TV, I am thinking about so many better gay movies...

And found other gay blogs listing their top ten. So here are mine.... please add your favourites and viewing suggestions in the comments.

1- Longtime Companion
Besides being a touching smart Oscar-nominated personal drama about the early days of the AIDS crisis, this was I think the first time I saw long term loving gay relationships on screen. It really impacted me.

2- Jeffrey

3- Weekend

4- Adam and Steve

5- Torch Song Trilogy


6- Brokeback Mountain

7- The Celluloid Closet

8- Yossi & Jagger

9-  The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert

10- Angels In America

Also well worth your time:
All Over The Guy, A Single Man, Making Love, Far From Heaven, Parting Glances, Milk, Broken Hearts Club, Trick, Gods and Monsters, Inside Out, Philadelphia


Note these are my favourites, not necessarily the best -- just the flicks that I enjoyed the most or that impacted me the most. Did not include documentaries at all.

Let me know your favourites in the comments...

January 4, 2015

Favourite New Equality Picture


Love this pic above, which I found on Laughing With Elephants accompanying a real great post on marriage equality... 

click here to read it:



When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that’s not important
No freedom ’til we’re equal, damn right I support it
-Macklemore

January 2, 2015

Big Bang Theory's Bad Feminist...


I love The Big Bang Theory... seen every episode, own the DVD's, watch the show over and over in syndication. And laugh every time.

Also like its cast-- they are talented, seem likeable and that they like each other, and Jim Parsons had a really graceful coming out that I really admired.

Gotta wonder about his costar Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting now though, according to excerpts from a Redbook interview to be published January 6th.

Keep in mind that this is a 20-something woman who makes a million dollars an episode for a sitcom, and is married to successful professional athlete, so struggle of any sort not likely part of her reality....

When asked if she considers herself a feminist: Is it bad if I say no? It's not really something I think about. Things are different now, and I know a lot of the work that paved the way for women happened before I was around ... I was never that feminist girl demanding equality, but maybe that's because I've never really faced inequality.

Yes it's bad if you say no. You make a million dollars a week, the exact same as your male coworkers. A million dollars a week. How would you feel if you made $770,000 to their million? Besides rich as shit I mean, would you would feel disadvantaged somehow?

Feminism the word has been back in the news lately, as it should be, as pop queens Beyonce and Taylor Swift embrace and promote the label, reminding those who think it is out of date or out of style that it just means equality of pay, opportunity, etc., so why the hell would someone be against it?

The Cuoco magic continues in the same interview... about the boob job she had as a teenager while starring on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, the actress calls it "the best decision I ever made." 

Really? In your whole life that is the best decision? Actually that might explain a whole lot...

Moron.

January 1, 2015

Happy New Year!


It's 2015....

This year has been designated the International Year Of Light and The International Year Of Soils by The United Nations General Assembly... and no I don't know what that means either.

This is looking like a banner year for pop culture and entertainment, from Star Wars: The Force Awakens to Jurassic World, the long awaited X novel from Sue Grafton, and in January alone the return of The Good Wife, Downton Abbey, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, Looking, and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting the Golden Globes... set your PVR now!

Happy New Year 
from Anderson, Alfred and Family!