Children of Earth
The trailer for Torchwood season three is out:
There’s even Harkness smooching.
Entries Tagged as 'Entertainment'
Sow what you reap!
I don’t know how I managed to miss this for a couple of years now, but this is probably the best fan site for CWs Reaper.
It’s got a great photo section included what is probably one of the best pictures of sexy Tyler Labine.
Who?
What I suspected has now been offically released by the BBC. David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who at the end of the 2009 Specials. I’m guessing that this news is the reason that the Doctor Who Forum is experiencing major difficulties in delivering its content. I thought David made an excellent Doctor. His incredible level of energy and sense of fun made the show more entertaining than at time in its long history. His three years with the show allowed him to develop and evolve the 10th Doctor’s personality. Christopher Eccleston’s 9th Doctor didn’t quite get that chance. (Yes, I know it was Eccleston’s choice to leave the role.) Although, too much of the whole “immortal with eternal survivor’s guilt” thing would probably have gotten old very quickly. I find it interesting that the “serious” 9th Doctor had less serious stories than the “fun” 10th Doctor. Russell T. Davies may not be the greatest of writers, but I think this shows an understated genius in his running the show.
I imagine the news will disappoint a good number of fans who expected their favorite Doctor to have a run of Tom Baker endurance. While I certainly enjoyed Tennant’s run immensely, I find myself welcoming this news. Ever since William Hartnell was forced out bowed out of the role, it’s been designed to be handed down from actor to actor, allowing the show to evolve in a way that no other show can. When the original series was canceled in 1989, Sylvester McCoy was determined to hand the role over to his successor at some point. He had that opportunity to do so in the 1996 TV movie. Yes, the movie was sub-par, but at least he was able to do so. Now we’ll get to see it passed on again right at the time a new team takes over the production. I think we’ll see a fresh start and some great originality. (Hopefully part of that includes giving the Daleks a rest. They need to bow out for a few years at least.) A new Doctor is always a fun ride. My only hope is Stephen Moffett allows the show to keep its gay sensibility.
I will stay out of any speculation on who should/will inherit the role. It’s a British Institution and I’m not British. There will be plenty of others posting their ideas all over the internet until the successor is announced. Until then, there will be five more specials for us to appeciate Doctor Number 10.
A Long Time Ago On a Channel Far, Far Away
Way back when (in the early eighties) my family first got cable, the embryonic childrens’ channel Nickelodeon aired an anthology show they called “The Third Eye“. The nearly budgetless fledgling network bought old shows from our former mother country England. While many remember “The Tomorrow People” which ran before Nick ran commercials during their shows, fewer remember this show which recycled BBC and ITV childrens’ serials.
The show endlessly reran the episodes of four (a fifth was added just before the anthology was cancelled) serials most likely purchased on the cheap. The oldest of the shows, “Children of the Stones“, a mid seventies relic, ran alongside it’s early eighties cousins: “The Haunting of Cassie Palmer“, “Under the Mountain“, and my favorite, “Into the Labyrinth“.
“Children of the Stones” wasn’t the most entertaining of the series, but it was unique amongst its bretheren. Where the other shows followed the typical children run away, find some strangers and have some adventures, the father and son team of “Children” had an unusual, open and equal relationship. For what may be the first time on television aimed at children, a parent and his offspring treated each other with the level of intelligence and responsiblity they both knew each had. The somewhat outlandish claims made by the son weren’t immediately dismissed by Dad. He even took the time to investigate, and when necessary, defend them against the more closed minded opinions of the villiagers.
The production values of the show were typical of the low budget British drama with a mix of videotaped studio material and 16mm film location shots. Yes, it looks cheap, but the cast makes up for this by being at worst competent and at best, a pleasure to watch. A year after this, star Gareth Thomas would get his own ongoing series playing Roj Blake in Terry Nation’s attempt to make an adult Doctor Who called Blake’s 7.
The good news is that there is finally a Region One DVD release forthcoming in January. After nearly a quarter century absence from American television screens, we’ll be able to watch this gem again.
Doctor Strange, Straight But Not Narrow?
Thanks to a link from Neilalien I got some people to actually read this thing and even leave some valuable comments. If you link me on your blogroll I’ll link you on mine!
To be perfectly honest, my teenage mind never considered the possibility that the trucker’s comment could have been sarcastic. This, of course, turns the whole situation around. Doc is defending an underclass! Yay!
I think it can be interpreted either way equally, which makes the whole thing rather ambiguous. Still, it is something of a relief that my favorite fictional character isn’t going to explode into an Ann Coulter-ish fit of rage simply by meeting someone like me and zapping that someone into another dimension or a pile of fine ash.
In fact, one could say it leans toward the sarcastic angle since it’s never mentioned again in the ensuing forty years and his reaction many decades later to being asked the “are you gay” question is pretty much ambivalence and a hearty laugh. So, thank you commenters, this actually made me feel better.
Now, just for the heck of it: Howard the Duck, Sorcerer Supreme! (from Marvel Treasury Edition #12 via Essential Howard The duck #1)
Howard The Duck, Sorcerer Supreme
*As for the issue number error, you have my apologies. That’s what I get for scanning out of Marvel Masterworks after not having read the arc for a decade or so. Next time I won’t be so lazy and dig up the actual issue! (I don’t own the Marvel Treasury Edition issue for the above panel so deal with the black and white!)
Still Swinging that Scythe, Part II
Reaper
Yay! Season One of Reaper will be released on DVD on November 4th.
Doctor Strange, Homophobe?
I’ve been a fan of Doctor Strange for nearly 30 years, since I measured my age in single digits. I went on a mad frenzy looking for just about every book he ever appeared in (and I’ve probably got most of them from his first appearance in 1963 to about 1985 or so.) As someone just entering my teens and just coming to realize what my sexuality meant. Unfortunately, this was during Reagan’s first term, so even in the more liberal New York, being an out gay teenager wasn’t a very safe thing to be. Hardly the trailblazer, I was pretty quiet about everything and remained quite in the dark about far too much.
Still, even in this rather ignorant state, when I discovered the panel at the left in Doctor Strange #175 (November 1968) at the tender age of thirteen I was quite bothered. Heck, my hero was saying, by proxy, that I was beneath contempt. I even identified with the whole “Prince Charming” comment. After all, Frank Brunner’s later “Daddy Doctor Strange” in the early seventies had all the makings of a gay porn star and was tasty indeed. And to top it all off, after the good Doc turns away, his silver-haired beard gets all pee-ohd at the second rate Paul Lynde and goes on to perform some nasty hex on him and his truck. This must be comicdom’s first mystical gay bashing. I wonder what Terry Berg would say to that?
Now, there were plenty of other things wrong with this issue, mostly having to do with Roy Thomas writing the worlds most incredibly crappy dialog in the history of the universe for this story arc. But nothing bothered me as much as this single panel. Now, a quarter of a century after I first read it, I’m still dwelling on it! Homosexual content was forbidden by the Comics Code Authority, and no one would distribute your work without that little stamp, but monthly gay bashing certainly wasn’t required for an issue to pass.
Now, the good news is this is Doc’s only venture into the world of homophobia and decades later, when an old acquaintance asked Stephen if he was gay (he had grown a goatee as was the fashion of the mid nineties and with that outfit, how could you not) he merely laughed. Was Roy Thomas pushing a right wing agenda with his shitty writing? We’ll probably never know. Doc was never popular enough to get a pop culture response. But if he was, he chose an odd venue for it. After all, there’s probably no character as anti-christian as Doctor Strange.
I have officially vented!
What Do You Get When…
… Grandpa Munster’s Grandpa marries Addicted To Surgery Barbie?
The McCains!
Is this the freakiest looking power couple or what?
It’s a Good Thing No One Had Heard of Heroin Chic Yet…
This is an interesting tribute to the world’s greatest heroine:
The theme remix gets annoying, but it’s easy to forget while watching one of the hottest women alive, then or now. How wonderful this was during a time women were allowed to have a figure. It makes her all the more beautiful.
It also reminds me that the search for a new actress to fill the role in any upcoming movie that may come about will ultimately be unsatisfying at best. Not only is the lovely Lynda Carter the only woman strongly identified with the role (more so than any other actor or actress with a super hero role), she is the only actress I can think of that can successfully portray the unique mix of qualities required. Wonder Woman is a mix of confidence and serenity, determination and wisdom, topped off with just the right amount of naïveté about her current situation. She is a patriot in the way that Superman or Captain America never were. She is the patriot of America’s future; she envisions it being even more free and more equal than what she defends now.
But, if anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Is There a Doctor in the Library?
Actually there are two. THE Doctor meets Dr. Elizabeth Corday Greene, widow of Dr. Mark Greene, who’s previous experience with action was watching the emergency room at County General get shot up every other week. The weeks it wasn’t getting shot up, the doctors were either screwing each other (metaphorically and literally), improperly diagnosing most of their patients, or getting kidnapped. Of course, this isn’t actually the good Dr. Corday. Rather, the lovely Alex Kingston portrays Professor River Song, an archeologist. Not only does Professor Song lack the ten foot pole up her ass that plagues Dr. Daniel Goodman of Bones first season, but she appears more confident and is obviously enjoying herself at least a thousand times more than as Dr. Corday. Kudos to you Ms. Kingston. You go girl!
When viewed as a whole, this is a rather trippy and somewhat sinister episode. After all, this silent library seems to exist in the mind of a young girl. Not just any young girl, but one undergoing therapy. On top of all that her creepy therapist tells her that the nightmares are real and the real world is just a dream. Assuming team Davies/Moffett don’t come up with something lame in part two, this could be interesting. Did The Doctor land inside someone’s head, kind of like his landing inside an electronic device wasy back when during the Perwee adventure “Carnival of Monsters”? Is the little girl actually a sentient security camera? Why am I so sure the explanation will be much lamer than this?
There’s even an attempt at explaining everyone’s fear of the dark. And it’s that apparently microscopic pirannah like things inhabit the shadows ready to strip the flesh off your bones in a microsecond. A functional plot device, even if it poorly rips off the premise of the Jeffrey Combs tour de force “From Beyond”. It does keep everyone on their toes, although the animated corpse repeating the same phrase over and over again (”Hey, who turned out the lights?”) is an obvious recycling of the “Are you my mummy?” child from the first season’s “The Empty Child”. It does give David Tennant his usual chance to display his enormous… energy supply.
Many of the two parters have a great first episode and a fairly big letdown in the conclusion. I’m hoping this doesn’t happen here.
More Nostalgia…
An interesting season finale to Bones was on tonight. Having Zach be the inside man was an interesting twist. I enjoy it when writers don’t treat the main cast as sacrosanct and surround them with character shields. My favorite pop culture reference was Booth listening to Social Distortion’s “Bad Luck” in the tub. I got to hear them play it live at the album release party at CBGB way back in 1992. Woo Hoo!
Still Swinging that Scythe
The best news of the day is: Reaper has been renewed for a second season! Neither low ratings nor a months long writers’ strike could kill this delightful little gem. What started out as a harmless comedy about a bunch of slackers stuck forever as minimum wage minions of a home improvement chain dealing with a very peculiar twist, has subtly shifted into a much more sinister gear.
The first episode was delightful in setting the scene while the next three continued in an acceptable, if formulaic fashion. It wasn’t until “What About Blob?” that the incongruities of the mundane worker bee life against vs. the insane bounty hunter from hell life clash was sent to the background bringing focus to a more deeply ingrained and ancient plot. Sam managed to get a copy of his parents’ contract with the devil. His father offers to help him out with it, but the episode ends with him tearing out select pages of the interminable document and burning them. It’s our first indication that things are more than what they seem. Sam will need to do more than balance work with the devil’s trade and trying to bring his relationship with co-worker Andi to the next level. Eventually where we get to the point where Sam’s heritage is suspect. We’ll have to wait for next week’s finale to find out.
Besides the unique storylines, Reaper is one of the most perfectly cast shows on television these days. Sam is basically a good guy making the best of an impossible situation. Bret Harrison is cute and talented and plays the role well, but he’s the straight man of the comedy team. The Reaper world revolves around Sock. Tyler Labine looks like Wolverine’s younger, chubier brother and seems to be in it only for himself. But when you examine him closed (and how I long to do that!) he lives by an adendum to Murphy’s Law that states: “If a job isn’t worth doing at all it certainly isn’t worth doing well.” As a corollary when he thinks it is worth doing, he does give it his all. And, above all, he thinks his friends are worth it. Time and again Sock has put himself on the line to keep his friends intact and in his life. (There’s also the homoerotic element to his friendship with Sam. I can honestly say I’ve never woken up with my best friend tossing M&Ms into my mouth while I sleep.)
Reaper’s brightest sattelite is Ray Wise’s devil. Few actors have ever been able to exude cool like this guy. Even when he’s pissed off beyond belief, he’s got a level head and is in control. This is, perhaps, one of the greatest casting jobs in the history of television. Watch out for Gladys. The underrated Christine Wiles was born to play this part. Anyone who can go from Dead Like Me’s ultra perky Delores Herbig to the DMV demon drone has got chops to spare. The writers were smart to elevate her from background character to an independent force with her own agenda. She owes Sam big after the last episode. I hope something comes of this.
So next week is the finale and then Reaper returns as a thirteen episode mid-season replacement. It may actually do better when not run against network powerhouses like House MD. I certainly hope so.
Sweet, Merciful Crap!
I’m one of the biggest jerks in the DC Universe!
You are Green Lantern
|
Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.  |
At Last!
Randi Rhodes has been suspended from Air America! The nasty, shrill phoney finally said something unforgivable! I hope they turn it into a termination. The “woman” is nothing more than attention whore who practices the opposite of what she preaches.
Might as well Jump!
So, I went to see Jumper this weekend. OK, this movie isn’t the greatest film ever made, and it really isn’t even that good of a film. Overall, there was too way too much handheld camera work that made the action scenes too difficult to follow. The effects could have been better and if this was supposed to be a war that’s been going on for centuries, there should have been more than two "jumpers". Basically, some more backstory would have been helpful to present a well formed story. Especially considering the main character’s mother has been in the thick of it her entire life.
It pretty much boils down to The Tomorrow People on steroids. The British show had a group of kids that were the next stage of human evolution. Here, you have children that suffer from a "genetic anomaly". Both have the ability to teleport while the TP can also talk to each other mentally and move objects with their minds. The jumpers look much cooler when they "jump". The TP has a secret government group that sometimes seeks their aid and sometimes drugs and kidnaps them. Here there is a mysterious order that may, or may not, have government connections who go around killing the jumpers. No, it’s not exactly the same. The Tomorrow People’s story telling was much more intelligent, but both sets of characters show a contempt for normal humans. While the TP avoided any religious controversy I have to wonder what the motivations behind Roland’s actions as head of the Paladins trying to kill the Jumpers. He states several times that "only God should have the power to be in all places at all times" or something to that effect. The Griffin character also states that other historical events like The Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials were Jumper purges. The term Paladin was used as to describe a high official in the Catholic Church and a good portion of the action takes place practically next door to the Vatican. Given the generally unsympathetic nature of the Paladins, was Jumper an unexplored crack at religion?
Overall, it was interesting and certainly not terrible but, I doubt there will be sequel.
Reap What You Sow
The extremely fun and more sophisticated than I thought it would be show, Reaper, may have more life in it than I originally expected. There may be up to five additional episodes beyond the original 13. There’s hope yet! In this case I’m glad I was probably wrong.
With Etta James in Mind…
At last! Guillermo Del Toro expresses interest in doing a Doctor Strange Movie! After forty-five years the good Doctor may finally get his due.
I gotta gets me some MEAT!
So far, the second season of Torchwood is a great improvement on the first. BBC America is showing the episodes on this side of the pond only a couple of weeks after they air in their homeland. So far it’s been a rockin’ good time, despite a few ill advised ideas.
Episode Four, "Meat" is a pretty standard story and maybe just slighly above mediocre plot about a lumpy looking space whale that gets trapped by some not too intelligent opportunists who cut chunks out of it and sell them to local markets. So, why have I chosen this out of the eight episodes that aired to date? In a word (well five of them): Kai Owen’s "Rhys Williams" character. Up to this episode Rhys has been Gwen’s bumbling, good hearted arm candy that she seems to love like Paris Hilton loves that dog she carries around in her purse. Rhys isn’t overly clever, doesn’t have a sculpted body and isn’t exactly ambitious but radiates a friendly charisma that’s had me enraptured since his first appearance in the premiere episode. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Kai has shown more skin than any other man or woman on the show. In the first season’s finale he came within a well placed coffee cup of a full frontal that was preceeded with some playful ass slapping. Mr. Owen’s six pack may come from a fridge rather than a gym, but I still wanna gets me some of that! (If you haven’t guessed, the title of this post IS a double entendre.)
Physical assets aside, Rhys comes into his own with this episode. After a season and a half of bad treatment by his bug-eyed, crinkle-faced girlfriend/fiance, he finally stands up to Gwen. He finds out about Torchwood through some fairly innovative and quick thinking investigation and calls out his manipulative GF. Apparently she underestimated him along with the rest of us. Heck, Rhys even stands up to Jack. I managed to predict the "This is so homoerotic" line a good ten seconds before Jack smarmily said it. As things progress, we manage to see him plan the infiltration of the meat mens’ warehouse, lead everyone there and even take a bullet for the undeserving love of his life.
In the end, when Jack wants Gwen to wipe out Rhys’ memory, the bitch/fiance stands by her man and refuses to do it. Finally, she shows that she loves Rhys more than something else in her life.
So, we have a new look at Rhys, who’s intelligent, quick thinking, brave, loving and selfless. Oh, and there’s the cute thing too! I hope this new look isn’t the last look.
Head Homo In Charge
By now you’ve heard the “news”. The late Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts was gay. Naturally, the revelation of the sexuality of a fictional character has sparked a gamut of emotion from disgust and outrage on the ridiculous right to praise and pride on the loony left and everything in between.
postmodernbarney.com calls Rowling craven for this after the fact tidbit. Time magazine states a similar line of thought, albeit less strongly worded. Comments on the more matter-of-fact CNN article are very diverse being both supportive and derisive. From these comments you can discern the fact that many, many Christian people are buying and reading these books despite the book burnings call for by the Dobson-like right-wing drones/clones.
First, a comment on the possible “satanic” nature of Harry Potter. There isn’t any. Wizardry in this fictional universe isn’t accomplished by calling on outside powers. It appears to be an innate ability of the magic users. This would seem to make wizards and witches a subspecies of humanity rather than ordinary humans selling their soul to defy the laws of the universe. Rowling’s universe contains no other dimensions, worlds, realms, etc… It’s merely differently talented people getting along in a world where they are outnumbered by the less powerful masses.
Second, is Rowling craven or an attention whore for her post-completion news? I don’t think so. First, the stories are told from the point of view of Harry Potter and his friends, not Dumbledore, the muggles, the ministry of magic or any of the Hogwarts faculty. Harry Potter has a lot of issues and is kept busy by the fact that someone is attempting to kill him. This would preclude him from noticing or attempting to discern the sexuality of his teacher; a man who is supposed to be approximately 110 years old. I know that in school, I really didn’t care who my teachers slept with, especially if they were old enough to collect social security, and I didn’t have anyone on my tail trying to blast me into atoms. I also speculate that Dumbledore wasn’t fully formed in the first couple of books and this may not have yet been a fact. Rowling started writing the first book in 1990 when Fraulein Thatcher was still in charge of the UK and Bush I was still infecting the US. Not exactly an ideal time to insert a gay character into a story aimed at children. This probably came about during the third or fourth book when Dumbledore’s role become much more prominent. Apparently clues are slipped in at this time, but my rather quick reading of the books a couple of years ago caused me to miss them. However, a coworker of mine says she kinda knew all along. I never claimed to have perfect gaydar.
Whatever you think of this, the fact remains that Dumbledore’s sexuality isn’t mentioned in the books and has no effect on the stories. For those on the right that are now calling the books garbage, enjoy them and do what you do best. Keep your children in ignorance of this fact. For those on the left claiming Rowling a coward, lighten up. It’s just a story.
Feeling Nostalgic
Enjoy my favorite song from the eighties:
The Children of the Night, What Music They Make
Friday is the opening of “30 Days of Night”. I read the source material a few years ago and wasn’t overly impressed. However the trailer looks interesting. It conveys a real sense of hopelessness.
Can he swing from a thread? No he can’t, he’s a pig…
In the where are they now category, will we ever see Spider Pig (aka Harry Plopper) again?
What’s a Boy to Do?
A funny post from a funny blog. Check out that 1950’s ad to get $10.98 dresses for free. (Being a child of the 70s, It still weirds me out to see addresses with no ZIP code.)
I think the answer to the author’s query is in the resemblence of the the lady in red (that would be the one in the lower right, not the embedded comic strip) to the grand dame of drag artists, Lypsinka.
Is this a case of art imitating life or the other way around?
Along Came Poly
A few posts ago I wrote about polygamy and the TV “Big Love”. It brought up memories of a rather remarkable man named William Marston (1893-1947). Doctor Marston was a psychology professor, an inventor and a writer. It is the last two occupations that would have a lasting effect on society.
Doctor Marston’s most famous invention was a systolic blood pressure test. It wasn’t used for health purposes but was developed into an early form of a lie detector test. Doctor Marston’s other invention, under the pen name Charles Moulton, was an iconic media character known as Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman herself was a remarkable invention. In the middle of a World War, during a very conservative period of America absent many of the civil liberties we currently take for granted, comes a self-confident, supremely strong, scantily clad woman, resident of an island inhabited only by women. Marston made sure to point out these differences from the “modern” woman of the time who was still expected to clean the house, cook dinner and raise the children. When Wonder Woman first arrives in America and decides to stay awhile, she looks in a shop window and despairs that the clothes have “so much material” while some locals have an astonished reaction to her outfit which is basically a one piece bathing suit and hooker boots. In a subsequent story where her eternally suffering boyfriend, Steve Trevor, gains greater strength then her in his attempt to make her go truly ga-ga over him, she thinks: Isn’t it more fun to make the man obey.
So what does that make her creator, who wrote for the strip until about two weeks before he died? One of the first modern feminists. Doctor Marston believed the female to be superior to the male and that when women finally took over, things like war, greed, poverty, etc… would vanish from the face of the earth. Doctor Marston’s ideas weren’t the only thing that were unusual. His personal life was as well. While in college, Marston met Elizabeth Halloway and eventually the two were married. Later, while teaching, a student of his, Olive Byrne moved in with the pair. The relationship was more than friendship. Marston had children by both women. The unusual polyamorous arrangement was never a secret, the women were friends to the point that the ladies named their children after each other and Mr. and Mrs. formally adopted Ms. Byrne’s children. Olive’s son pointed out that: “It was an arrangement where they lived together fairly harmoniously.”
Now to the point of this whole thing. When people think of polygamy, they conjure images of arranged marriages and assigned child brides. While, they never called it a marriage, it is an example of a successful polyamorous relationship. This relationship developed naturally. In fact, after Marston’s death from lung cancer in 1947, Elizabeth and Olive continued to live together until Olive’s death in the 1980’s. Elizabeth died fairly recently in 1999 at the age of 100. It seems fitting considering both women were inspirations for Wonder Woman. Elizabeth provided the spunky personality while Olive, with her dark hair, blue eyes and large silver bracelets provided the physical model. Basically, it shows that this type of a relationship can work and perhaps work better than the “traditional family structure”.
There are two unfortunate things here. First is the early death of Doctor Marston. In just a few years after his death, Frederic Wertham released his work Seduction of the Innocent accusing comics of causing all sorts of social ills such as juvenile delinquency and homosexuality. Things went so far as Congressional hearings. I believe Marston’s defense of comic books in general, an art form he loved, and his own creation specifically would have been fascinating. Second, there is no decent biography of Doctor Marston available.
Portions of this entry are derived from Les Daniels’ “Wonder Woman, The Complete History” (Chronicle Books, 2000) and Nick Gillespie’s “William Marston’s Secret Identity” (Reason Magazine, May 2001)
“One of these days this whole city is gonna explode”
The movie that taught the mainstream what that yellow hankie hanging out of that guys right rear pocket means was finally released on DVD. Despite direction by Academy Award winning William Friedkin, Academy Award winning actor Al Pacino in the lead role and the presence of several other actors of note, Cruising is no masterpiece.
History notes that the movie managed to anger everyone when it was released. I was too young to remember so I’ll need to take the many sources at their word. True, it portrays a culture that, even today, gets little respect outside the its own walls, but there is little sincerity beyond the grimy leather bars. Most of the bars I’ve been in look pretty much how they were depicted in the movie. Twenty-seven years after its release and the most relevant thing it portrays is that leather culture is stuck in time to a degree. Aside from the eighties porno haircuts, you can expect a bar to look like what you see here.
Performance-wise, this whole affair seems forced. Half the “native New Yorkers” don’t have anything approaching a New York accent in any of it’s multitudinous variations. Too many scenes sound like the dialog was re-recorded and the actors where half-asleep when they sat down for this task. A good deal of the dialog is over the top; most people who don’t suffer from megalomania or are about to audition for a play don’t talk like this. And Steve’s (Al Pacino) girlfriend has a HUGE apartment. Even back in 1980 such a young woman on her own should be living in a broom closet sized place. Even the whole murder plot seems rather implausible.
The only interesting thing is Steve’s descent from Average Joe cop to pervert. It’s a subtle journey that’s the real main story of this mess and it’s Pacino’s real triumph in this outing. There wasn’t much else for him to work with.
When all is said and done, this isn’t much more than a historical oddity. As one of the very few serious mainstream movies about leather culture it’s something to watch to “see how things were back then”. Throw it in the Netflix queue and be glad that those hairstyles are long out of fashion.
Comparing Disasters!
The Plank at TNR.com has a wonderful comparison of Britney Spears’ botched comeback and George Bush’s continuing ineffectualness. (via AndrewSullivan.com) Check it out!
Variety Show
Wow, four days without posting. I have a bit to make up for, so here a few things on my mind.
Torchwood - The Saturday debut was BBC America’s highest rated show ever. Good going. Next up is “Day One”. This will be Gwen’s first adventure with the Torchwood team and they square off against a creature lovingly named “The Sex Gas”. It’s an alien that feeds off the energy of male orgasms (straight or gay) and kills the “donor” in the process. This is what I meant about the more controversial aspects of the show. While there’s no outright graphic sex (simulated or otherwise) you see a good deal of bare butts. Now Rhys (Kai Owen), Gwen’s boyfriend may be more Average Joe than muscle god, but he’s got a cute ass and has no problem showing it! Back to the point, while BBC America didn’t significantly censor the first episode, now that we get more into the nitty gritty, I hope that remains the case.
Madeleine L’Engle - This great author inspired me to read some of her works again. I ordered nice new hardcover copies of “A Wrinkle In Time”, “A Wind In the Door” and “A Swiftly Tilting Planet” and they arrived yesterday. Afterward, I’ll listen to the same read by the author. I was also inspired to concoct a way to spread the works of Madame L’Engle and increase the readership and commenting here (hopefully) by bribing the audience with a contest. Look for it in early October. Right before that is the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. “A Wrinkle In Time” is consistently in the top 25 of banned and challenged books. Read it!
The News - Senator Toilet “I have a wide stance” Tryst has decided to try and have his guilty plea withdrawn. Something tells me he’ll be successful. Since it’s four days before the date he promises to resign, he may just stay on till the end of his term. My only disappointment is that he won’t be running for re-election. It certainly would have been the most entertaining contest of 2008. The attacks from his fellow republicans would have been both more vicious and more original than any the democrats could think up.
Now another prostitute has come forward to denounce Senator Vitter. Still, his fellow party members either ignore the incidents or spring to his defense. Here is a man of God who, unlike his counterpart from Idaho whose proof of a crime is tenuous at best, has admitted to breaking a secular law (it’s only legal to pay for sex in certain parts of Nevada after all) numerous times and breaking a commandment. Somehow he believes God has forgiven him. Is there a crash course to cure someone of adultery like there is to cure someone of homosexuality? And if so, who supervised him?
Former senator, crappy actor and presidential candidate running on the heels of the late Ronald Reagan, Fred Thompson first can’t remember the details of the Terry Schiavo affair. Then, after being reminded of the details, he says it should be left up to the locals to decide who lives or dies. If it takes him many hours to remember something that happened a mere two years ago and was significant enough for buffoon in chief George Bush to drag Congress back into session, maybe he has more in common with Reagan’s less desirable characteristics than he cares to admit. Maybe we should ask Oliver North.
Is it possible to get too close of a shot in a porn movie? Check out this article on high-definition porn. Apparently producers are having some issues with the high definition image revealing too much. Now all those “perfect” bodies have cellulite, wrinkles and razor burn. This should a be a boon to the California plastic surgery and fitness industries. It will probably push the envelope on software technology to cover up these imperfections because it’s unacceptable for a porn actor to look like a person. No wonder Barbie remains popular and Slutz Bratz are even more so.
Worldwide scam network, Exodus, is releasing a report today that reparative therapy for gays ain’t so bad. Of course, it’s being released by a publisher noted for its dedication to Christian ideology. Also, it’s unknown if the report was actually peer reviewed. If nothing else, it should be a funny read.
We’re still in Iraq with no end in sight. And buffoon in chief still believes this is going well and we should stay even though we can’t even successfully train a security force over four and a half years. Obviously this is the wait until it’s someone else’s problem strategy.
Keep reading. It can only get better.
Celebritydom
Tonight I saw Fox Television’s preview of TMZ TV. Several of the stories were mildly entertaining, but I had to ask myself. Of what use is a show like this? I’ve never been one to celebrate celebrities. I can’t understand peoples’ obsessive interest in the lives of others.
Perhaps someone can solve my quandary for me? I mean, what is the practical purpose of know the intimate details of Paris Hilton’s life? Is how she got her strangely disjointed facial characteristics some eternal mystery that opens the key to some form of enlightenment?
When it comes down to it, celebrities are people like us. They need to drop their trousers or hike their skirts to take a crap just like us. They are no better than us. Some are extremely talented and earn their fortunes while others are famous because they are famous. Their wealth and name are inherited from those who did earn it. What has Nicole Richie done apart from act like an idiot on an incredibly bad reality show? Oh, and get pregnant.
If we’re going to worship people in the media, why not choose those who deserve it? War zone reporters risk their lives on a daily basis to ensure you have the knowledge necessary to manage our republic. Why aren’t they among our pantheon of celebrities?
I certainly have respect for those who dedicate our lives to entertaining us, but I won’t devote my life to them and you should think twice before doing the same.
Amor Grande or There’s Something About Marriage
HBO’s latest sensation is a series called Big Love. It’s all about polygamy and it was created by gay couple. Creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer wanted to create an unbiased look at polygamy. Technically they are exploring a subset of polygamy called polgyny, the marriage of one man and multiple women the most common form of “plural marriage” in the United States thanks to offshoot sects of our friends at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, informally known as The Mormons.
I became interested in the history of this unique group with the publication of Jon Krakauer’s “Under the Banner of Heaven”. A fascinating book it presents some of the more recent cases of violence in the breakaway Mormon sects (most famously the Fundamental Latter Day Saints or FLDS) and contrasts them with the history of Mormonism in general. It’s a pretty good read. Pick it up if you come across it.
Now, the show actually presents two views of polygyny. We first encounter Bill Henrickson and his wives: Barb, Nicki and Margene. They live in three adjacent houses with a common backyard. This is the voluntary polygyny family. Bill, one of the lost boys thrown out of the compound he called home to reduce competition for wives has developed his relationships with his wives naturally (or as naturally as possible in this situation). Even though the family is strictly patriarchal and Bill is unquestionably the king of his castle, he and his wives are in the situation entirely by consent. (The children are a different matter.) Bill and his family have chosen to live in the mainstream rather than remain on the sect’s compound. It must mirror the difficulties that polygamists have when trying to blend in with society at large.
The other view of polygyny is shown in via the Juniper Creek compound. Here the Mormon sect has separated itself from the rest of the world. It is obviously inspired by the FLDS sect at Colorado City/Hildale. Here marriage is not the product of a developing relationship. Women are assigned to their husbands by the compound’s prophet. (The prophet is an office established by Joseph Smith when he founded the LDS and is believed to be appointed by God.) Though there are similarities to arranged marriages, they are less stable. If the prophet is displeased with a man’s behavior, he could be expelled and his wives could be reassigned to others. Women are very much property and not considered an equal.
We have Bill’s relationships, the good polygamy, and the compound marriages, the bad polygamy. While Bill’s marriages are far from idyllic, I think they show that the one man and one woman dynamic isn’t necessarily the only way we need to go. As long as all parties involved are consenting and of age, there is no real reason to discourage these types of relationships by making them illegal. Of course, all types of polygamy must be legal and any number of men could marry any number of women. Or any number of men could marry any number of other men. Or any number of women could marry any number of other women. It’s certainly not up to government to regulate happiness or attempt to make all relationships conform to a cookie cutter norm. And it’s not a duty of government to deny responsibilities and benefits to a minority. Our constitution is engineered to protect these people. Otherwise we simply become a tyranny of the majority.