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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Too Much Television - Woohoo!
Last night was a ridiculously full night of television viewing: watched American Idol and Amazing Race, taped the season premieres of Project Greenlight and The Shield, the latter watched last night.
American Idol was interesting, mostly because some very talented finalists did poorly. Amazing Race was best when Survivors Rob and Amber decided to take a penalty for not completing a task... then convinced two others to do the same thing, thus ensuring their own safety. My admiration for Rob has gone from zero to... three or four, perhaps. It was a joy to see him bend the rules - not break them, of course - to suit his needs.
Speaking of bending the rules... The Shield is a show Barb and I got into deeply thanks to the DVDs - we crashed through the first three seasons in less than two months, thanks to Netflix, and were drooling for the fourth season to start. The opening was great, ending with the kind of unexpected laugh that The Shield is so good at. That said, the rest of the episode was fast and powerful, but it seemed to lack a center. Part of it is the fact that the characters are all in a state of transition: Vic's strike force broke up at the end of last season, leaving him and Ronnie in a surveillance tape purgatory; Claudette is still catching hell for running up against the brass; and Aceveda's getting ready to enter political office (and is apparently still dealing with his rape - or not dealing with it).
I'm not sure what direction the series is heading, but two things give me hope. First, the appearance of Curtis Lemansky, the most sympathetic and conscience-ridden of the strike force - I thought he'd be gone for good, which would've been a shame. Lem's guilt-ridden panic and decision to burn the cash was an incredible climax for season three. Second, the appearance of Shane Vendrell - the last of the strike force - in the middle of a very questionable situation. If Shane is being set up as the villain - the bad cop gone worse - this season, that'll give the series a new spine. Vic seems intent on staying on the straight and narrow, he's always needed something to push him over the edge. Shane could be it.
As for Glenn Close's much-ballyhooed arrival to the cast as the new police captain: she did great, of course, and had the first big punchline of the season. She brings a different vibe to the show, which is what any major cast addition should do, and I look forward to seeing how her character handles Vic.
That's what I love about this show. It's not Glenn Close, it's Monica. It's not "the guy who used to be the Commish," it's Vic. The characters are that alive to me, they mean a great deal to me as a viewer and I'm immersed in the story so completely, very little meta-observation. And from what I heard about the game, I can't wait to play The Shield on my Xbox.
Last but not least, Project Greenlight. I watched it earlier this morning and would have ignored it if it wasn't for the horror / Wes Craven angle. I watched the first season on DVD (and again this weekend in a Bravo channel marathon) and was impressed by the process but unimpressed by the final product. Pete Jones' insistence on following his vision struck me as ridiculously self-indulgent, as it often seemed that he was more concerned with recreating a mythic nostalgia about his childhood self than making a good film. But then, I never cared much for poignant coming-of-age films to start with. The separation of director and writer last season sounded good, but not enough to bring me back.
But this time, it's art blood commerce - with an apparent struggle for art to get some respect. Given the actual financial outcomes of the first two Greenlight films, this made sense - it's good to hear Chris Moore argue for a more commercial film this time, even as Matt Damon insists repeatedly for a more innovative approach.
The selection of the screenplay was particularly painful, with the folks at Dimension Films insisting on the shlocky B-movie-esque choice because it's what they can best market... and winning the argument, as Feast was indeed chosen. That said, I'd be most likely to watch that film over the other two selections, which may have been quirkier but didn't push my own film-viewing buttons. I have mixed feelings upon hearing the winning writers went to University of Iowa... kept wondering if I'd seen them at the comic store at some point. But what the heck, they made a great sale for their story.
What was really surprising, of course, was the selection of the winning director. It ended up being a choice between the safe bet versus the weirdo genius - and having lost the battle over script, apparently Matt won this time with the weirdo genius. The best chance of making a different kind of horror film, especially given the script - but I see disaster written all over this choice, as well. Which is apparently a very Greenlight kind of choice, I guess. I can't wait to see what happens next.
The best thing about Project Greenlight is that it's as much about commerce as it is about art. A vision is a good thing, but a budget is a necessary thing. The notion of a writer cut off from commercial concerns is a rather romanticized, unrealistic view - I hate it because it makes art sterile, isolated, easily dismissed. There is a practical side for public writing and it has to be given respect, not just accepted as a necessary evil.
That said, my writing life right now is balanced between reading guides for money, this blog for necessary chatter, and hypertexts for creative expression. The last two have nothing to do with money, nor do they need to consider the commercial aspects of writing. I've had a running history of writing for low-visibility, low-to-no income projects. That said, I don't feel the world owes me anything for those choices, so I guess that's a fair trade-off.
American Idol was interesting, mostly because some very talented finalists did poorly. Amazing Race was best when Survivors Rob and Amber decided to take a penalty for not completing a task... then convinced two others to do the same thing, thus ensuring their own safety. My admiration for Rob has gone from zero to... three or four, perhaps. It was a joy to see him bend the rules - not break them, of course - to suit his needs.
Speaking of bending the rules... The Shield is a show Barb and I got into deeply thanks to the DVDs - we crashed through the first three seasons in less than two months, thanks to Netflix, and were drooling for the fourth season to start. The opening was great, ending with the kind of unexpected laugh that The Shield is so good at. That said, the rest of the episode was fast and powerful, but it seemed to lack a center. Part of it is the fact that the characters are all in a state of transition: Vic's strike force broke up at the end of last season, leaving him and Ronnie in a surveillance tape purgatory; Claudette is still catching hell for running up against the brass; and Aceveda's getting ready to enter political office (and is apparently still dealing with his rape - or not dealing with it).
I'm not sure what direction the series is heading, but two things give me hope. First, the appearance of Curtis Lemansky, the most sympathetic and conscience-ridden of the strike force - I thought he'd be gone for good, which would've been a shame. Lem's guilt-ridden panic and decision to burn the cash was an incredible climax for season three. Second, the appearance of Shane Vendrell - the last of the strike force - in the middle of a very questionable situation. If Shane is being set up as the villain - the bad cop gone worse - this season, that'll give the series a new spine. Vic seems intent on staying on the straight and narrow, he's always needed something to push him over the edge. Shane could be it.
As for Glenn Close's much-ballyhooed arrival to the cast as the new police captain: she did great, of course, and had the first big punchline of the season. She brings a different vibe to the show, which is what any major cast addition should do, and I look forward to seeing how her character handles Vic.
That's what I love about this show. It's not Glenn Close, it's Monica. It's not "the guy who used to be the Commish," it's Vic. The characters are that alive to me, they mean a great deal to me as a viewer and I'm immersed in the story so completely, very little meta-observation. And from what I heard about the game, I can't wait to play The Shield on my Xbox.
Last but not least, Project Greenlight. I watched it earlier this morning and would have ignored it if it wasn't for the horror / Wes Craven angle. I watched the first season on DVD (and again this weekend in a Bravo channel marathon) and was impressed by the process but unimpressed by the final product. Pete Jones' insistence on following his vision struck me as ridiculously self-indulgent, as it often seemed that he was more concerned with recreating a mythic nostalgia about his childhood self than making a good film. But then, I never cared much for poignant coming-of-age films to start with. The separation of director and writer last season sounded good, but not enough to bring me back.
But this time, it's art blood commerce - with an apparent struggle for art to get some respect. Given the actual financial outcomes of the first two Greenlight films, this made sense - it's good to hear Chris Moore argue for a more commercial film this time, even as Matt Damon insists repeatedly for a more innovative approach.
The selection of the screenplay was particularly painful, with the folks at Dimension Films insisting on the shlocky B-movie-esque choice because it's what they can best market... and winning the argument, as Feast was indeed chosen. That said, I'd be most likely to watch that film over the other two selections, which may have been quirkier but didn't push my own film-viewing buttons. I have mixed feelings upon hearing the winning writers went to University of Iowa... kept wondering if I'd seen them at the comic store at some point. But what the heck, they made a great sale for their story.
What was really surprising, of course, was the selection of the winning director. It ended up being a choice between the safe bet versus the weirdo genius - and having lost the battle over script, apparently Matt won this time with the weirdo genius. The best chance of making a different kind of horror film, especially given the script - but I see disaster written all over this choice, as well. Which is apparently a very Greenlight kind of choice, I guess. I can't wait to see what happens next.
The best thing about Project Greenlight is that it's as much about commerce as it is about art. A vision is a good thing, but a budget is a necessary thing. The notion of a writer cut off from commercial concerns is a rather romanticized, unrealistic view - I hate it because it makes art sterile, isolated, easily dismissed. There is a practical side for public writing and it has to be given respect, not just accepted as a necessary evil.
That said, my writing life right now is balanced between reading guides for money, this blog for necessary chatter, and hypertexts for creative expression. The last two have nothing to do with money, nor do they need to consider the commercial aspects of writing. I've had a running history of writing for low-visibility, low-to-no income projects. That said, I don't feel the world owes me anything for those choices, so I guess that's a fair trade-off.
