Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz...

Last night's long-awaited Joan Osborne themed episode was one of the better overall episodes of Glee in a long time.  (Just kidding about the Joan Osborne thing.)  If you're already on board for the cheesiness, the often awkward placement of musical numbers, and the forced theme, then this episode tackling the question of faith was a high point in quality given how tacked-together this show has been feeling lately.

When Kurt's dad suffers from a heart attack and is hospitalized with a coma, some members of New Directions feel it is their duty to pray for him, but Kurt feels uncomfortable about being asked to participate in this as he is an atheist.  While Schue is happy to let Kurt dictate his own terms, most of the glee clubbers, and guidance counselor Emma, feel that Kurt is being harmed by not having religion in his life.  Only Sue Sylvester is on board with Kurt's "God is just Santa Claus for adults" perspective, and wants everyone to back off.  Her conversation with Emma is a great portrayal of the condescension that I think a lot of people on both sides of the issue have encountered, and it was a refreshingly honest moment for this show.

The episode's musical numbers emerged more organically than they usually do, with the exception of Finn's "Losing My Religion" fantasy.  I got the impression that the whole reason they contrived the whole Grilled Cheesus storyline was to facilitate this number, and I hope they never work that hard ever again to give this kid a solo to shout at us.  Mercedes got two wonderful solos which showed a lot of her range, and Rachel's "Papa Can You Hear Me" was very pretty, if awkward.  Kurt's slowed-down "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was a wonderful way to show flashbacks of Kurt's childhood moments with his father, though I liked this arrangement better when T.V. Carpio sang it in Across the Universe.



It is refreshing to have a gay atheist character on television go through something relatable and be portrayed in a positive and honest light.  I was worried that in the end he would accept religion unnaturally and that alone would be shown to bring his dad out of the coma, but instead it seemed like everyone came to respect each other's beliefs just a little.  I also loved this exchange:
          Kurt: "You can't prove there isn't a magic teapot floating around on the dark side of the moon with a dwarf inside of it that reads romance novels and shoots lightning out of its boobs, but it seems pretty unlikely, doesn't it?"
          Brittany: "Is God an evil dwarf?"

On to the more superficial treasures of this episode, I am happy any time Mark Salling is shown crooning with his guitar, but I do miss Puck's mohawk so much.  Without it, Salling looks too much like the 28-year-old that he is (television actors looking too old to believably be in high school shockah).  When the glee clubbers complained that they are being criticized for being too sexy one week and too religious the next, Brittany's "Now I know what Miley feels like" made me laugh.  It was also great that Kurt gave a shout-out to the "great spaghetti monster in the sky."

Rachel is still being written as an impossible-to-like character, and I don't know why they're doing that.  Finn praying to Grilled Cheesus to get to 2nd base with her felt really out of place in this otherwise more weighty episode.  Then again, touching Rachel's sideboob over her clothes is probably the 2nd hottest thing Finn's ever done after ejaculating in the hot tub next to Quinn, and sharing a harem den with Kurt.  I don't think anything he ever did with Brittany and Santana really registered for him.

So what's next for Glee?  More silliness and stunts?  Or more earnest storytelling.  Let's hope for the latter.

Glee, Tuesdays at 8pm on Fox

across the universe, pt. 2

Just a couple of things I found on Wikipedia and wanted to add to yesterday's discussion of Across the Universe:

1. Evan Rachel Wood and Across the Universe co-star, Jim Sturgess are reported to be involved in Spiderman the Musical, the upcoming Julie Taymor Broadway production. Music for the show will be composed and written by Bono and The Edge, of the band U2.

2. I did buy the soundtrack for the movie, and highly recommend it. It's a nice change from listening to the same versions of Beatles songs over and over. I do wish "With a Little Help From My Friends" and "Dear Prudence" were included on it, though.

julie taymor, star v.j.

The night before last I finally saw Across the Universe, because I had been worried it would leave theaters before I got the chance to see it on the big screen. Having had a couple of days to sort out my varied feelings about the film, I'm very glad that I was able to catch it before it closed. I'd had previous warning from a large number of sources that the story would be inescapably thin, but I followed my gut instinct which told me that the draw of the film would be its visuals, not its story. Thankfully, I was right.

From the trailer I could tell that there was an incredibly artistic vision at hand in this film, and also that the story rested its crucial Beatles tunes on a plot consisting of 1960s romance and the Vietnam war. Ehhh... Dave Calhoun of Time Out London wrote, "Taymor has mistaken a deeply clichéd view of the late ’60s for a radical slice of the zeitgeist. Let it be." This is pretty much the big problem that the story has. I think it's understandable that when crafting plotlines around the beloved and culturally relevant songs of The Beatles, there would be a strong impulse to focus on the political situation of the '60s. However, I think much of the beauty of the music is its emotional impact that transcends time frames. There is a beautiful scene set to "All You Need is Love," and I wish that the film had taken more of its cues from the lyrics to that song. Any number of stories could have better served the musical while giving it more of a storytelling appeal, and I even think that Movin' Out told the Vietnam story better with its "Goodnight Saigon" set piece alone...

That said, I still thought this was an excellent movie. How I managed to come to that conclusion was to check out of the storyline completely about ten minutes in. One of my friends, who left the theater calling it her "new favorite movie," referred to it as a string of amazing music videos. For anyone not looking to try too hard to figure out what's going on throughout, this is the best way to watch Across the Universe. There are too many lulls in the story to keep it feeling fresh and smooth from start to finish, yet almost every one of the songs is treated with beauty and grace.

Even someone like myself who is not necessarily fluent in the full discography of Beatles music was aware of stretches that the film made in order to incorporate song titles or lyrics into non sequitur pieces of dialogue. But even though the music didn't alllways fit with the storyline, there is one crucial aspect to this movie that I have yet to mention: the music is BEAUTIFUL! Of course, Beatles music is amazing as is, but the performances were at times so moving that I felt all I wanted to do was listen to that song for the rest of my life. T.V. Carpio's voice gave "I Want to Hold Your Hand" a raw, caramelized beauty that I had never heard in it before, and Jim Sturgess' "Strawberry Fields Forever" harmonized so well with the visuals onscreen that I was in awe of the visceral experience being projected in suspicious 2D a few yards in front of my face.

So, I must recommend that you see this movie in the next few days before it leaves theaters. I fully intend to buy the soundtrack and start listening to the original Beatles music I haven't played in a long time. I understand why the movie got a 51% at Rotten Tomatoes - some people love it and some people hate it. I would have to give the visual aspect and the musical performances a 100%, and the storyline a 25%...you know I can't resist a good love story, and this one is sweet if taken in small doses. As far as the performances are concerned in general, I enjoyed them all, for the most part. The actors did a good job in spite of the flaws in the screenplay. Cameos by Bono, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek, and especially Joe Cocker were delightful surprises, and the supporting actors all suited their roles very well.

Evan Rachel Wood managed to get under my skin, though, and not in a good way. I can't really tell how much of my current distaste for her comes from the Dita/Marilyn thing, or how much of it is my jealousy at her pin-straight golden hair and porcelain, patrician face. All in all, I just found her annoying. As for Jim Sturgess, I would like to officially welcome him to the club of "Katherine's Hollywood Heartthrobs." Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I saw an actor in a movie and immediately felt the heartstring flutters of teenage celebrity crushes. I know I was not the only girl in the audience who uttered a satisfied purr every time he sauntered onscreen, all British and pretty. Yum.

So...where was I? Anyway, great soundtrack and worth the price of the ticket, if you go in with the proper frame of mind. I'd love to see what Taymor could do with actual music videos, and if she could translate this movie into a better version of itself on the Broadway stage. Note to self: rent Titus.

trailer rundown

So, I decided it's time to get back into one of my favorite high school pastimes. Spending hours looking at movie trailers online. Here's a few that look worth mentioning:

The TV Set (Now Playing)
Well, I'm interested in the theme of this film - I like the self-reflexive look at the film and TV industry, but I'm not sure if the mood is going to strike the right balance between Punch-Drunk Love and I Heart Huckabees. Anyway, I expect good things from Justine Bateman, David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, and Judy Greer, so I may actually see this in theaters instead of netflixing it...


The Ex (May 11)
Since the disastrous experiment in feeling bad, The Last Kiss, hopefully Zach Braff has realized how important it is that he keep himself involved in projects that are in some way comedic. This movie doesn't look like it will be a comedy to remember for years or anything, but I think the three leads have proven themselves before, and I am always jonesing for more Jason Bateman.


Severance (May 18)
So the first half of the trailer looked like the film would be too slow and low-budget to pull off "dark" without being interesting enough. Once I realized that it's a dark comedy and a slasher movie, I got more excited. I've never really been into the slasher genre, but this seems like it won't be taking that aspect of the film as seriously as it will treat the characters and the social commentary. Plus, Laura Harris from "Dead Like Me"!


Paprika (June 1)
Yoooooooowza... I am woefully unfamiliar with Japanese filmmaking, but this looks like it might be the thing that gets me to sit and watch anime with an eagerness I've never felt before. I mean, I know nothing about the story from the trailer, but visually, it looks like it could be one of the best movies I've ever seen.


Across the Universe (September 28)
MFers took the idea for a Beatles movie musical that I had when I was in the shower in high school and did it so much better than I ever could. Dammit. Seriously though, this looks stunning. Hopefully I can get the image of Evan Rachel Wood and Marilyn Manson doin' it out of my head enough to enjoy this...


The Savages (TBD)
Yesssss! More Philip Seymour Hoffman to turn me on... this movie looks great. What Little Miss Sunshine would be if there were no minors or opportunities to laugh out loud. I'm being serious, I really think this will be moving and funny, and I am really looking forward to the interaction between PSH and Laura Linney. With both of them signed on, I don't really know if I have to say anything else.


This was fun...I'll have to look through more trailers later!