For any of you who read film essay site A Bright Wall in a Dark Room, which I have been contributing to since June, check out Film Projections, a multimedia companion site. I have just posted the below video to Film Projections, which unites my love of film with my love of astronomy. And Carl Sagan's voice is always so soothing, even if he does pronounce 'humans' as "yoo-minz."
If film is the way we represent the human experience in fiction, astronomy is how we perceive our existence in truth. Film montage over a Carl Sagan commentary of our isolated existence in our little region of the universe.
"Astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience."
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
One Of Us
Over at A Bright Wall in a Dark Room, we're having Halloween Week! You should go check out all our essays on scary movies. Today my essay about Tod Browning's Freaks (1932) went up. Give it a read!
by Katherine Spada
WHAT IS A MONSTER?
by Katherine Spada
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A quick one
It's the week after October sweeps, so a lot of shows have been airing reruns, making this a great week to catch up on Netflix Instant. I don't have a whole lot to say about last night's episode of Modern Family, but I thought there were a lot of great jokes throughout which I wanted to highlight.
The premise of parents struggling to get their child into an elite elementary school is inherently amusing to me as a Los Angeles native, and as someone who was once one of those children. However I have to call out ModFam for stealing a major bit from The L Word, when Mitchell and Cam feel that their diversity credibility is threatened when they see a lesbian couple, with one partner in a wheelchair, and an adopted baby, applying to the same school as they are. Swap the genders and we've seen this exact scene before.
That said, Mitchell's line about feeling inadequate in the preschool race, "Leave it to the gays to raise the only underachieving Asian in the country," was pure Mitchell, and tied in nicely to one of the show's funniest and most uncomfortable running gags, which is how uncomfortable Cam acts around minorities. There was an episode last season in which he struggled with Gloria, because while he is not a racist, his yen to be as politically correct as possible often manifests in excruciatingly awkward actions and misunderstandings. So when he pretended to be a Native American in order to give Lily a better chance at getting into the school, I was horrified and could not stop laughing. He described his daughter as having skin the color of "maize." Unreal.
The Jay/Gloria storyline did nothing for me, but at the Dunphy household, Claire implored her family to compete to see who could go the longest without using cell phones, video games, and internet. Phil described the challenge as an experiment in being Amish, whose lifestyle includes "witnessing murders." Amazing. Luke finally had an opportunity to use his imagination, which involved building miniature cities and destroying them. I have to admit that I loved when he acted out, "There's no fire escape; they cut corners!" "I'll cut your corners!"
Finally, when Claire herself broke the no-internet rule, she was discovered when Phil heard the computer call out, "You've got mail!" Because of course Claire still uses AOL!
The premise of parents struggling to get their child into an elite elementary school is inherently amusing to me as a Los Angeles native, and as someone who was once one of those children. However I have to call out ModFam for stealing a major bit from The L Word, when Mitchell and Cam feel that their diversity credibility is threatened when they see a lesbian couple, with one partner in a wheelchair, and an adopted baby, applying to the same school as they are. Swap the genders and we've seen this exact scene before.
That said, Mitchell's line about feeling inadequate in the preschool race, "Leave it to the gays to raise the only underachieving Asian in the country," was pure Mitchell, and tied in nicely to one of the show's funniest and most uncomfortable running gags, which is how uncomfortable Cam acts around minorities. There was an episode last season in which he struggled with Gloria, because while he is not a racist, his yen to be as politically correct as possible often manifests in excruciatingly awkward actions and misunderstandings. So when he pretended to be a Native American in order to give Lily a better chance at getting into the school, I was horrified and could not stop laughing. He described his daughter as having skin the color of "maize." Unreal.
The Jay/Gloria storyline did nothing for me, but at the Dunphy household, Claire implored her family to compete to see who could go the longest without using cell phones, video games, and internet. Phil described the challenge as an experiment in being Amish, whose lifestyle includes "witnessing murders." Amazing. Luke finally had an opportunity to use his imagination, which involved building miniature cities and destroying them. I have to admit that I loved when he acted out, "There's no fire escape; they cut corners!" "I'll cut your corners!"
Finally, when Claire herself broke the no-internet rule, she was discovered when Phil heard the computer call out, "You've got mail!" Because of course Claire still uses AOL!
 |
| Modern Family, 9pm Wednesdays on ABC |
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday night reality
The Amazing Race, 8pm on CBS
It was a very good move for the producers to have kept father/son team Michael & Kevin in the race last week, and within short order, they were leading the race in its Lapland leg. Since Michael is unable to handle many of the show's physical challenges, it was fun to watch how good of a time he was having in the dogsled challenge, and his adorable cheers of "Go doggy! I'm enjoying!" made up for how hard it was to watch his disappointment in himself for letting his son down last week. It was also good to see them working together with the other father/child team of Gary & Mallory to get ahead. I am seriously tired of annoying couple Chad & Stephanie, but definitely relieved that nerds Connor & Jonathan took their a capella butts home (on their Princeton graduation day, no less, reminding me of ANTM Cycle 7's Brooke). Yes, yes, it's nice to see that they had a positive attitude, and I know I would have done as poorly in the sledding challenge, but still. I was not a fan. Doctors Nat & Kat made it from 2nd-to-last place to come in first this week, which I was pleased by.
Undercover Boss, 9pm on CBS
This week, the CEO of small, struggling regional airline Frontier went undercover to see how his employees and company are doing after a three-way merger and a company-wide 10% pay cut. CEO Bryan Bedford tried out roles in airplane sanitation and airline hospitality, and learned a lot about how hard many of his dedicated employees have it. As a devout Catholic, he was also inspired by how many of the people he worked with found comfort in God, and resolved to help serve others using the lessons he'd learned. It was a very sweet episode; almost as good as the 7-11 one.
Sister Wives, 10pm on TLC
Kody is supremely terrible, and has the intellect and maturity of a preteen. The wives express some jealousy over time Kody spends with Robyn before she is officially married to him, which she resents as she moved her whole life and family to be with him. As the wedding planning goes on, Kody shows how little he respects his wives' feelings, and seriously upsets them when he usurps their plans about the cake and wedding dress. In another moment where he is shown to be the worst, he looks so unamused when Robyn intimates that strangers observing them as a group may have no clue that they are a polygamist family, because "for all they know, Kody's just our gay friend." If these women want to share a husband, that's great, but did they have to pick such an awful one?
It was a very good move for the producers to have kept father/son team Michael & Kevin in the race last week, and within short order, they were leading the race in its Lapland leg. Since Michael is unable to handle many of the show's physical challenges, it was fun to watch how good of a time he was having in the dogsled challenge, and his adorable cheers of "Go doggy! I'm enjoying!" made up for how hard it was to watch his disappointment in himself for letting his son down last week. It was also good to see them working together with the other father/child team of Gary & Mallory to get ahead. I am seriously tired of annoying couple Chad & Stephanie, but definitely relieved that nerds Connor & Jonathan took their a capella butts home (on their Princeton graduation day, no less, reminding me of ANTM Cycle 7's Brooke). Yes, yes, it's nice to see that they had a positive attitude, and I know I would have done as poorly in the sledding challenge, but still. I was not a fan. Doctors Nat & Kat made it from 2nd-to-last place to come in first this week, which I was pleased by.
Undercover Boss, 9pm on CBS
This week, the CEO of small, struggling regional airline Frontier went undercover to see how his employees and company are doing after a three-way merger and a company-wide 10% pay cut. CEO Bryan Bedford tried out roles in airplane sanitation and airline hospitality, and learned a lot about how hard many of his dedicated employees have it. As a devout Catholic, he was also inspired by how many of the people he worked with found comfort in God, and resolved to help serve others using the lessons he'd learned. It was a very sweet episode; almost as good as the 7-11 one.
Sister Wives, 10pm on TLC
Kody is supremely terrible, and has the intellect and maturity of a preteen. The wives express some jealousy over time Kody spends with Robyn before she is officially married to him, which she resents as she moved her whole life and family to be with him. As the wedding planning goes on, Kody shows how little he respects his wives' feelings, and seriously upsets them when he usurps their plans about the cake and wedding dress. In another moment where he is shown to be the worst, he looks so unamused when Robyn intimates that strangers observing them as a group may have no clue that they are a polygamist family, because "for all they know, Kody's just our gay friend." If these women want to share a husband, that's great, but did they have to pick such an awful one?
"No one is on your side, Betty."
She had style, she had flair...she was there! That's how she became the nanny Mrs. Draper!*
Ohh, Don. Don, Don, Don. Well, let's get back to him in a moment.
All week I had been thinking that previous seasons of Mad Men all ramped up towards a dizzying climax, and that while this season had opened up a lot of loose ends, there didn't seem to be anything monumental to expect from the season finale, except perhaps Bert Cooper leaving SCDP and the new company folding, sending all our beloved coworkers into the ether, to be welcomed by the ghost of Sal Romano. So we're treated to a couple of brief scenes in which we learn that Joan is picking up the slack after the massive layoffs, Don has gotten SCDP (SDP?) closer to getting Cancer, and Peggy and Ken Cosgrove have gotten the first new account since the fallout. It was great to see Peggy on her game, and to see Ken get a win after Pete misguidedly trying to make him feel like a failure for not being like him. But who would want to do anything to jeopardize the happiness of Alex Mack? Not me.
At the Francis home, Betty's black hole of sadness is all-consuming. She has decided to move the family twenty miles away simply to escape Sally's creepy friend Glenn, and when Carla decides to allow the children to say a quick goodbye, Betty fires her. This has to be the worst thing Betty has ever done, and really makes me wonder where the writers want her awful character to go. Personally, I suspect Henry will leave her, and she'll run off to Rome or kill herself or something.
On the Joan front, it seems she did take Roger's advice to keep the child and pass it off as her rapist husband's. This was not a surprise, but now I am just curious if they'll kill off Dr. Harris while Joan's pregnant, forcing her to seek help from Roger, or if they'll carry on the charade with him thinking that the silver-haired baby who keeps vomiting up oysters and vermouth is his own.
Okay, so back to Don. He super-inappropriately asks his secretary Meghan to accompany him to California as a babysitter, and while there, he sleeps with her twice and then proposes to her using the ring he inherited from Anna Draper. My brain reacted with something between a record scratch and a facepalm. I mean, it's not like Don has ever shown himself to be a responsible adult when it comes to his personal life (remember when he wanted to run off with Rachel Menken?), but this was just another frustrating moment of his bad behavior being rewarded. I always think of how Roger described Don and Betty as looking like a wedding cake topper, and it seems a perfect symbol for how they are both such petulant children.
When he breaks the news to his coworkers, even Roger is incredulous. Roger Sterling. The most enigmatic reaction was easily Peggy's. She's the Mona Lisa smile (not the Mona Lisa Smile) of this show, and there are a million reasons why she could have been so glassy-eyed. Was she jealous, a little hurt to be shut out of Don's future love life? Offended because of Don's pat acknowledgment of how much respect he and Meghan have for her? Jealous because once again, Don gets everything - a career and a marriage? Or is she just disappointed? I think it's that last one, that she does not respect Don's decision, and she wants so badly for him to just be better, be a better man, but he always comes up short.
I wish I could have spent a whole day commiserating with Joan and Peggy. Their shared acknowledgment that Don is just as ridiculous as every other manchild they know was great. And to have Peggy acknowledge that she knows Joan is just as much of a workaholic as she is, was a nice coda to what they've been through together over the years. Just think of the parallels in their unplanned pregnancies, too.
Oh, Betty. As terrible as she is, I definitely felt for her when she was touching up her lipstick in anticipation of sneaking up on Don at their old house. Thinking about when they were young, and starting life together. And then learning that he is moving on, with tears in her eyes. It was believable, and human in a way unlike her typical terrible self. I think it is hard as audience members to deal with really unlikeable characters because they are too real, and remind us too much of our own flaws, but January Jones does sadness better than any other emotion (see The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), so it was a great scene for her.
And oh, Dr. Faye. I really did expect Don to marry her, much like how his real-life inspiration Draper Daniels married a business associate who was more of an equal to him, but I guess she was just not enough of a poolside diversion for him now that they could have their relationship out in the open.
So what was this season about? The first episode opened with the question, "Who is Don Draper?" Surely a lot has changed. Don is curbing his alcoholism and his womanizing, but not quitting either. He is swimming, and trying to enjoy life outside of work a little bit more. He is opening up a bit about his secret past, but not enough to be able to own up to a possible background check. He went from being unable to talk candidly to a journalist about himself, to buying full-page ad space in The New York Times for his essays, and bringing his children to Anna Draper's California home. But what does it all mean?
*Actually the more I think of it, the lyrics of The Nanny's theme song are really chillingly appropriate to this Don/Meghan situation. "Now the father finds her beguiling (watch outC. C. Dr. Faye!), and the kids are actually smiling (such joie de vivre!)..." Get it? Because they have a terrible birth mother, and Meghan is French Canadian?
Ohh, Don. Don, Don, Don. Well, let's get back to him in a moment.
All week I had been thinking that previous seasons of Mad Men all ramped up towards a dizzying climax, and that while this season had opened up a lot of loose ends, there didn't seem to be anything monumental to expect from the season finale, except perhaps Bert Cooper leaving SCDP and the new company folding, sending all our beloved coworkers into the ether, to be welcomed by the ghost of Sal Romano. So we're treated to a couple of brief scenes in which we learn that Joan is picking up the slack after the massive layoffs, Don has gotten SCDP (SDP?) closer to getting Cancer, and Peggy and Ken Cosgrove have gotten the first new account since the fallout. It was great to see Peggy on her game, and to see Ken get a win after Pete misguidedly trying to make him feel like a failure for not being like him. But who would want to do anything to jeopardize the happiness of Alex Mack? Not me.
At the Francis home, Betty's black hole of sadness is all-consuming. She has decided to move the family twenty miles away simply to escape Sally's creepy friend Glenn, and when Carla decides to allow the children to say a quick goodbye, Betty fires her. This has to be the worst thing Betty has ever done, and really makes me wonder where the writers want her awful character to go. Personally, I suspect Henry will leave her, and she'll run off to Rome or kill herself or something.
On the Joan front, it seems she did take Roger's advice to keep the child and pass it off as her rapist husband's. This was not a surprise, but now I am just curious if they'll kill off Dr. Harris while Joan's pregnant, forcing her to seek help from Roger, or if they'll carry on the charade with him thinking that the silver-haired baby who keeps vomiting up oysters and vermouth is his own.
Okay, so back to Don. He super-inappropriately asks his secretary Meghan to accompany him to California as a babysitter, and while there, he sleeps with her twice and then proposes to her using the ring he inherited from Anna Draper. My brain reacted with something between a record scratch and a facepalm. I mean, it's not like Don has ever shown himself to be a responsible adult when it comes to his personal life (remember when he wanted to run off with Rachel Menken?), but this was just another frustrating moment of his bad behavior being rewarded. I always think of how Roger described Don and Betty as looking like a wedding cake topper, and it seems a perfect symbol for how they are both such petulant children.
When he breaks the news to his coworkers, even Roger is incredulous. Roger Sterling. The most enigmatic reaction was easily Peggy's. She's the Mona Lisa smile (not the Mona Lisa Smile) of this show, and there are a million reasons why she could have been so glassy-eyed. Was she jealous, a little hurt to be shut out of Don's future love life? Offended because of Don's pat acknowledgment of how much respect he and Meghan have for her? Jealous because once again, Don gets everything - a career and a marriage? Or is she just disappointed? I think it's that last one, that she does not respect Don's decision, and she wants so badly for him to just be better, be a better man, but he always comes up short.
I wish I could have spent a whole day commiserating with Joan and Peggy. Their shared acknowledgment that Don is just as ridiculous as every other manchild they know was great. And to have Peggy acknowledge that she knows Joan is just as much of a workaholic as she is, was a nice coda to what they've been through together over the years. Just think of the parallels in their unplanned pregnancies, too.
 |
| (Gif borrowed from a Videogum commenter) |
Oh, Betty. As terrible as she is, I definitely felt for her when she was touching up her lipstick in anticipation of sneaking up on Don at their old house. Thinking about when they were young, and starting life together. And then learning that he is moving on, with tears in her eyes. It was believable, and human in a way unlike her typical terrible self. I think it is hard as audience members to deal with really unlikeable characters because they are too real, and remind us too much of our own flaws, but January Jones does sadness better than any other emotion (see The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), so it was a great scene for her.
And oh, Dr. Faye. I really did expect Don to marry her, much like how his real-life inspiration Draper Daniels married a business associate who was more of an equal to him, but I guess she was just not enough of a poolside diversion for him now that they could have their relationship out in the open.
So what was this season about? The first episode opened with the question, "Who is Don Draper?" Surely a lot has changed. Don is curbing his alcoholism and his womanizing, but not quitting either. He is swimming, and trying to enjoy life outside of work a little bit more. He is opening up a bit about his secret past, but not enough to be able to own up to a possible background check. He went from being unable to talk candidly to a journalist about himself, to buying full-page ad space in The New York Times for his essays, and bringing his children to Anna Draper's California home. But what does it all mean?
*Actually the more I think of it, the lyrics of The Nanny's theme song are really chillingly appropriate to this Don/Meghan situation. "Now the father finds her beguiling (watch out
Friday, October 15, 2010
Vote for me!
So, a shameless plug today:
I have entered into a contest to get a job blogging for the Nature Made supplement company. I am avid about fitness and staying in shape, and think I could do a really good job for them blogging about wellness and having a positive attitude. Please do me a favor and cast a vote for me! You can vote every day, if you'd like!
I have entered into a contest to get a job blogging for the Nature Made supplement company. I am avid about fitness and staying in shape, and think I could do a really good job for them blogging about wellness and having a positive attitude. Please do me a favor and cast a vote for me! You can vote every day, if you'd like!
Sitcoms Part 2...and some other stuff
Community, 8pm on NBC
I seem to be the odd man out compared to the rest of the internet this morning, but I did not think this was among the strongest episodes of this series. I always love scenes where Abed tries to make everyone live life like a movie, so the slow-motion march to the space shuttle made me laugh, but there were only a couple of other big moments in the episode for me. The best was probably Troy threatening to kill Annie, which was delivered with the same tone as the choloform scene from a couple of episodes, which was a series highlight. And of course, the self-aware KFC advertising was pretty great, and well-established in NBC's wheelhouse.
30 Rock, 8:30pm on NBC
All I want to do is refer to last night's live episodes of 30 Rock as "much ballyhooed," but that is lame, and I am cool. I was really impressed with the fact that the cast performed two live versions of the show, for the East Coast and West Coast broadcasts, and I have to say that watching the episode made me feel like I was part of a television event, which is not a mood that's easy to create in this post-TiVo world. The pacing and camera work was weird, but this was a live staging of a show that we are not used to watching with an audience's laugh track, so no big deal there. Chris Parnell seemed the most comfortable of the main cast members, but the highlight was definitely Jon Hamm, whose amorous hand (West Coast feed) had me laughing for a solid five minutes. That he is so good at this kind of comedy, but is also Don Draper, makes me love him even more. It was a very smartly written episode, and the live show within a live show added protection from any number ofmishaps Tracy Morgan outbursts. The way that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was used was perfect and clever (remember Tina Fey's Emmy speech?), and any reference to young hot Alec Baldwin is great.
The Office, 9pm on NBC
Just like the 'lip dub' cold open that kicked off the season, this episode was a great contribution to send off Steve Carrell. Melora Hardin's brief scene made me desperately miss the time when she was a series regular, but I am definitely looking forward to Amy Ryan's upcoming guest-starring run. While the Michael storyline was definitely the heart of the episode, I absolutely loved Andy getting to use his Cornell RA skills to teach his officemates about sexual health and acceptance. He is so clearly someone whose happiness and power peaked in college, and it is so sad to watch that play out.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 10pm on FX
This was a great episode. I love the battle between Team Dee/Dennis and Team Mac/Charlie, and it was great to finally have that battle distilled down to a class war. Everything about Charlie thinking his jean cutoffs were not white trash, and Dee/Dennis/Frank at the public pool was hilarious. The more absurd of a character Frank becomes, the more he adds to the mix.
Jersey Shore, 10pm on MTV
Well, it's happened. Jersey Shore fatigue. I will watch the season finale next week, but I can't see caring about these awful people for one more season. "The Situation" in particular makes me want to jump off a cliff, but DJ Pauly D, Vinny, Ronni, and Sammi are only marginally better. Now, if Snooki and J-WOWW were to get their own show, I could see watching that.
Grey's Anatomy, 9pm on ABC
This episode had actual admirable character development, which was a nice surprise. And Dr. Altman was rapidly becoming one of my least favorite characters on the show, but at least she finally told off Dr. Avery for flirting with her. Oh, Dr. Avery - or as I remember him, the Hotness Monster from Greek - so glad he finally had his shirt off. Though really when do new doctors have the time to get so ripped?
I seem to be the odd man out compared to the rest of the internet this morning, but I did not think this was among the strongest episodes of this series. I always love scenes where Abed tries to make everyone live life like a movie, so the slow-motion march to the space shuttle made me laugh, but there were only a couple of other big moments in the episode for me. The best was probably Troy threatening to kill Annie, which was delivered with the same tone as the choloform scene from a couple of episodes, which was a series highlight. And of course, the self-aware KFC advertising was pretty great, and well-established in NBC's wheelhouse.
30 Rock, 8:30pm on NBC
All I want to do is refer to last night's live episodes of 30 Rock as "much ballyhooed," but that is lame, and I am cool. I was really impressed with the fact that the cast performed two live versions of the show, for the East Coast and West Coast broadcasts, and I have to say that watching the episode made me feel like I was part of a television event, which is not a mood that's easy to create in this post-TiVo world. The pacing and camera work was weird, but this was a live staging of a show that we are not used to watching with an audience's laugh track, so no big deal there. Chris Parnell seemed the most comfortable of the main cast members, but the highlight was definitely Jon Hamm, whose amorous hand (West Coast feed) had me laughing for a solid five minutes. That he is so good at this kind of comedy, but is also Don Draper, makes me love him even more. It was a very smartly written episode, and the live show within a live show added protection from any number of
The Office, 9pm on NBC
Just like the 'lip dub' cold open that kicked off the season, this episode was a great contribution to send off Steve Carrell. Melora Hardin's brief scene made me desperately miss the time when she was a series regular, but I am definitely looking forward to Amy Ryan's upcoming guest-starring run. While the Michael storyline was definitely the heart of the episode, I absolutely loved Andy getting to use his Cornell RA skills to teach his officemates about sexual health and acceptance. He is so clearly someone whose happiness and power peaked in college, and it is so sad to watch that play out.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 10pm on FX
This was a great episode. I love the battle between Team Dee/Dennis and Team Mac/Charlie, and it was great to finally have that battle distilled down to a class war. Everything about Charlie thinking his jean cutoffs were not white trash, and Dee/Dennis/Frank at the public pool was hilarious. The more absurd of a character Frank becomes, the more he adds to the mix.
Jersey Shore, 10pm on MTV
Well, it's happened. Jersey Shore fatigue. I will watch the season finale next week, but I can't see caring about these awful people for one more season. "The Situation" in particular makes me want to jump off a cliff, but DJ Pauly D, Vinny, Ronni, and Sammi are only marginally better. Now, if Snooki and J-WOWW were to get their own show, I could see watching that.
Grey's Anatomy, 9pm on ABC
This episode had actual admirable character development, which was a nice surprise. And Dr. Altman was rapidly becoming one of my least favorite characters on the show, but at least she finally told off Dr. Avery for flirting with her. Oh, Dr. Avery - or as I remember him, the Hotness Monster from Greek - so glad he finally had his shirt off. Though really when do new doctors have the time to get so ripped?
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