At the end of my last post, I mentioned that The Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast had a number of cross-overs in its line-up, which I'm going to discuss here in part three of this blog entry.
War of Two Worlds
This was an ongoing collaboration between The Thrilling Adventure Hour and the podcast SuperEgo. Honestly, this was absolutely without exception, the least interesting thing put out by The Thrilling Adventure Hour. The different styles of the two podcasts means that these episodes were both written and improvised, making for a rather interesting show - in theory. In practice, they were sort of weird and incoherent, with thin plot lines and poorly drawn one-dimensional characters. I was glad when this series ended, and a bit disappointed to hear in a recent Q&A episode that members of The Thrilling Adventure Hour ensemble hope to do more collaborations with SuperEgo in the future. I for one am not looking forward to that.
This American Wife
This American Wife is a podcast that spoofs on the public radio show This American Life (although, at least regarding the cross-overs done with The Thrilling Adventure Hour, the NPR show it most seemed to parody was Fresh Air). The cross-overs done here consisted of interviews with various actors - speaking in character - from The Thrilling Adventure Hour segments. These were pretty funny, and I enjoyed hearing some more about the characters' back stories as well as their interactions with each other. If these two podcasts chose to collaborate again, I certainly wouldn't mind that. However, there was nothing so very compelling about the concept of This American Wife that made me want to go check out that series on its own.
The Dead Authors Podcast
This was less of a cross-over than it was a plug for another project from one the show's actors, that project being the ongoing improv comedy podcast known as The Dead Authors Podcast. The episode of The Dead Authors Podcast featured in The Thrilling Adventure Hour line-up was the December 2012 feature with the authors of the Gospels, which happened to be one replete with actors and guest stars from The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Paul F. Topkins, Craig Cackowski, Mark Gagliardi, Matt Gourley, and Hal Lublin. This episode was so hilarious that I ended up going back and listening to all the past issues of The Dead Authors Podcast -- and subscribing to the podcast for all future episodes.
But let me step back a moment here and explain the basic premise of the show. Like The Thrilling Adventure Hour, the podcast is a recording of a live show but unlike The Thrilling Adventure Hour, The Dead Authors Podcast is not a staged reading but a work of improvisational comedy. Paul F. Tompkins is the host of the show, and he plays it in the role of H.G. Wells, the British author known as one of the fathers of science fiction. The show's conceit is that Wells owns and operates a functional time machine, which Wells uses to go back in time and transport now-dead authors into the present where he interviews them regarding their lives and works. The author changes from month to month and is always played by a different comedian who comes up with answers to Tompkins's/Wells's interview questions on the spot. The result is always something hilarious, although there are some episodes that are even better than others. For instance, John Hodgman as Ayn Rand was one of the most hysterically funny things I've ever heard, Kristen Schaal as Tennessee Williams was also laugh-out-loud funny, and Brian Stack as Brendan Behan had me in stitches. James Adomian as Walt Whitman responding to every question in a Leaves of Grass-style rambling poem (remember, these were all invented on the spot) was another recent highlight.
So to recap, The Dead Authors Podcast is an absolutely hilarious romp through literature in a improvisational sketch matter, although of course with some historical background done in advance by the participants and Paul F. Tompkins as the interviewer. Of course, both the "author"/comedian du jour and Tompkins roll with the punches and come up with new answers/questions as that night's show progresses and goes in different directions than one might expect. I definitely recommend this podcast for fans of literary humor as it does not fail. But even if you haven't read all the authors featured on this podcast, it will still be funny and you won't be lost. In fact, with Tompkins providing some details of the author's life via his interview questions, you might even learn something in between your peals of laughter!
Speaking of Paul F. Tompkins, The Dead Authors Podcast was not the only trip down the rabbit hole I took as I delved into the world of comedic podcasts over the past year or so. But that's a story saved for the fourth and final part of this blog post ...
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
The Podcast's the Thing Wherein I'll Catch a Laugh ... (Part 2)
In my last post, I wrote about a podcast that I have been enjoying over the past year, which is recorded from a live monthly show called The Thrilling Adventure. Short recap: The Thrilling Adventure Hour is a humorous staged reading done in the style of old-time radio programs, complete with music and campy sound effects. The show always begins with the segment "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and ends with the segment "Beyond Belief." The middle show varies from month to month, although it is usually one of the segments listed below.
The Adventures of Captain Laserbeam
After "Beyond Belief," this is my favorite segment from The Thrilling Adventure Hour. "Captain Laserbeam" is a goofy superhero story featuring a campy Superman/Ironman-type protagonist who is helped out by a bunch of teenagers known as the Adventurekateers. As with "Beyond Belief," the stories of "Captain Laserbeam" as not serialized in the way that "Sparks Nevada" is; nonetheless, there is some development over the years in terms of character arcs, and I think it would be wiser to start listening to this segment from the beginning rather than trying to catch on now. Captain Laserbeam gets himself in all kinds of jams involving the various villains that plague his hometown of Apex City. He ranks this villains in order and like any good superhero, his villains are all ridiculously named and themed characters of their own. My particular favorite has been the Die-brarian (along with his henchman, Papercut), as his presence is a golden opportunity for a ton of bookish-based jokes. (I should have mentioned this in my earlier post: The Thrilling Adventure Hour isn't funny just because of situational comedies or witty repartee; it's also rife with tons of intellectual/nerdy jokes.)
Like with most of the other segments on The Thrilling Adventure Hour, part of the comedy comes from establishing regular catchphrases, but then "Captain Laserbeam" takes it a step further by eventually messing with the now-familiar phrases. Unlike most of the other segments, there isn't really a duo central to "Captain Laserbeam." Captain Laserbeam is more or less on his own, with an occasional bit of information supplied by the ever-rotating cast of Adventurekateers. That means there isn't the same tension of two opposites like Sparks and Croach in "Sparks Nevada" or a symbiotic working relationship like that of Frank and Sadie in "Beyond Belief." Still, Captain Laserbeam's short adventures usually do just fine with him more or less on his own.
Over time, however, the writers ingeniously introduced a new character as a great foil to Captain Laserbeam. The ever upbeat and optimistic Captain Laserbeam found an unlikely alliance with the darker, more pessimistic vigilante known as Phillip Fathom, the deep-sea detective. In one of the behind-the-scenes interviews released on the podcast, Hal Lublin (the voice behind Phillip Fathom, as well as a variety of other characters on The Thrilling Adventure Hour) discussed his process in coming up with an appropriate sound for the deep-sea detective: Lublin noted that the writers were clearly riffing on The Batman character with Phillip Fathom, causing Lublin to contemplate which Batman portrayer he should seek to imitate. Would it be Adam West? Michael Keaton? George Clooney? No, Lublin decided Phillip Fathom should be voiced like Christian Bale as Batman. Nothing is more hilarious than hearing Phillip Fathom on stage shouting something like "My parents were murdered at sea!" in that deep, gravelly voice. In fact, one of my absolute favorite episodes of "Captain Laserbeam" is the one in which Fathom is introduced; hearing him shout "I'M NOT A GOSSIP!" cracks me up every time I hear it. I would love to hear more from Phillip Fathom in the further (and I suspect we will), and I think a spin-off of "Captain Laserbeam" with Phillip Fathom's solo adventures would be a great addition to the current rotation of segments.
One of the compelling things about Captain Laserbeam is that his mythology is not completely fixed yet, and the audience is slowly learning things about his alter ego and history, including his relationship with fellow superhero Dream Girl. Between this and the possibly of exploring Phillip Fathom's background further, there is plenty of fodder for new "Captain Laserbeam" episodes in the future.
Tales from the Black Lagoon
"Tales from the Black Lagoon" is the one anomaly in The Thrilling Adventure Hour cannon. Unlike all the other segments, it is not read live in front of an audience and it's got a much darker vibe. It's certainly still funny, but in a far less obvious way than the other segments. "Tales from the Black Lagoon" plays like a 1940s film noir with the characters all pulled from the Golden Age studio lot, although of course all with some new twist for comedic effect. We've got a cannibalistic Cary Grant, a dope-dealing Shirley Temple, an opium-using Jimmy Stewart, and so forth. This segment challenges the vocal actors in a different way than all the others - it's not just a matter of creating a new tone or accent, it's taking on a well-known personality and voice. The smooth jazzy music, the narrative structure, and the storylines all fit the noir mystery tropes; in sum, this is a great comedy version of old detective stories and very fitting with the idea of an old-time radio program. Unfortunately, this segment hasn't been on the podcast in recent years; the muted comedy may have been less popular than some of the other segments, although the likelier explanation is that the technical aspects of this one made it more difficult to execute.
Jefferson Reid, Ace American / Amelia Earhart, Fearless Flyer
These two segments are similar enough for me to feel okay with wrapping them up together. Like "Tales from the Black Lagoon," the "Jefferson Reid" segment hasn't been on in several years. In this case, it's likely because the usual actor behind Jefferson Reid was Nathan Fillion who has since been tapped to play Cactoid Jim when he's available for a show. "Jefferson Reid" and "Amelia Earhart" are both set in an alternate reality World War II, with Jefferson Reid acting as a sort of super solider and Amelia Earhart a time-traveling pilot (who did not actually disappear without trace over the Bermuda Triangle, rather hiding herself so that she could take part in clandestine operations to stop Nazi victories before they happen). These two segments are my least favorite on the show; the stories seem to be the same thing over and over again, and there's only so many times I can hear Jefferson Reid, Amelia Earhart, or one of their compatriots talk about "dirty Krauts" before I get tired of it. Basically, unlike the other segments in The Thrilling Adventure Hour, these two programs seem unoriginal. Also, despite having two female leads, "Amelia Earhart" tends to annoy me by suggesting that the two women are lesbians. Because of course two women trying to be patriotic during a world war have to be homosexual. Otherwise, they'd be home tending to their Victory gardens and adjusting their cake recipes to account for sugar rations.
The Cross-Time Adventures of Colonel Tick-Tock / The Algonquin Four
"Colonel Tick-Tock" is one of the weaker segments on the show, although it's definitely grown on me over numerous episodes. Colonel Tick-Tock is a member of the Queen's Royal Chrono Patrol, meaning that his job is to police the timeline and time travel at a moment's notice if something goes wrong (i.e., a dinosaur shows up in the modern day). "Colonel Tick-Tock" is notable for its clever use of language/wordplay around time and time travel, and sometimes for coming up with some rather ridiculous historical mash-ups. For some reason, Colonel Tick-Tock is rather effeminate and hinted at being gay, even though he is married to a woman. Another odd thing is that the Queen of England is voiced by a male actor, although that ends up being rather funny (think Jon Stewart's impression of Queen Elizabeth II).
"Colonel Tick-Tock" has earned its own spin-off in "The Algonquin Four," although as I far as I can recall, they have had only one or perhaps two solo episodes. The Algonquin Four consists of a quadruple of historical figures who have been given superhero qualities via a cosmic event: Harry Houdini has an elastic body, Woodrow Wilson can make things invisible, Robert Benchley "has dominion over flames," and Dorothy Parker is more or less the female version of The Incredible Hulk (She literally shouts "Dorothy Parker smash!!" at a moment's notice. In the behind-the-scenes interviews, Annie Savage who voices Dorothy Parker notes that the writers' helpful description of how to play this character was simply "dumber.") The four characters find themselves having to battle various enemies at times. "The Algonquin Four" is not one of my favorite segments either, but it's entertaining enough as an occasional episode.
Down in Moonshine Holler
"Moonshine Holler" is the "fairy tale" of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, but also is the most realistic (if you can actually call it that) out of the selection of segments. "Moonshine Holler" is about a rich man who met a woman at a party and found out she was the "Hobo Princess" when she left behind a fingerless glove. He immediately gave us his riches, changed his name to "Banjo Bindlestuff," and began traipsing the Depression Era-landscape in search of the "hobo paradise" named Moonshine Holler, where he hopes to be reunited with the woman he loves. On the road, Banjo finds a mentor in fellow homeless wanderer Gummy, and they navigate the world of hard luck together.
As with "Sparks Nevada" and "Beyond Belief," we have a comedy that works well because of the two leads and how they play off of each other. One of my favorite running jokes is when Gummy tells Banjo to do something like say hello or thank you, noting "It's the hobo way!!" and Banjo sighs, pointing out that it's actually "the regular people way also." Gummy (who is unbelievably voiced by Hal Lublin, the force behind Phillip Fathom) is a fan of shivving people and eating pie, although not necessarily in that order. In fact, Gummy's favorite exclamation is "Apple pie!," which somehow never fails to make me laugh.
"Moonshine Holler" also works by having a number of situational comedies arise. Most episodes follow a standard format in which Banjo and Gummy come across someone(s) who Banjo hopes either is the Hobo Princess or has information about her. Instead, this person(s) has a problem of their own, which Banjo could solve but only if he reveals his true identity as a millionaire. In the nick of time and with Gummy's encouragement, Banjo thinks up a solution that will solve the current crisis without blowing his cover. Despite being rather formulaic like this, I always find the story in "Moonshine Holler" to be hilarious. The combination of the new and interesting characters, the absurdity of yet another situation, and the funny jokes always leave each episode feeling fresh. This segment feels the most like it could have an end date though, as there is clearly a conclusion coming at some point when Banjo at last finds the Hobo Princess. Still, it's been some time since there was a "Moonshine Holler" episode released on the podcast, so I feel like there's potential for plenty more adventures in store for Banjo and Gummy.
I do have to note on "Moonshine Holler" that this is the segment that most walks the dangerous border between comedy and insult. Personally, I find it very funny because it's all meant in good, ridiculous humor and obviously no one out there currently (or during the Depression) is giving up millions to chase after a Cinderella-like character to a place that may or may not exist. Still, homelessness is a real problem and using these old stereotypes of jumping trains, making stone soup, and warming oneself by trashcan fires is not a flattering (or accurate) portrayal. I try to take it in stride and just go with the humorous aspects, but I could definitely see how some might find this offensive. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.
Jumbo the Elephant Saves ... [insert appropriate holiday here]
"Jumbo" is a rather sporadic segment that only appears around certain holidays. In fact, the writers have noted that it's unlikely we'll hear from Jumbo again, although there are still other holidays that could use a little elephantine cheer. Jumbo is a jazz band-playing elephant of Cuban descent living in Miami. Yes, he's an elephant from Cuba, because that makes geographical sense. However, it does mean that he pronounces his name as "Yumbo," which absolutely kills me for no good reason. It's just hilarious every time I hear it. Jumbo's main function is to tell holiday stories and talk about how he manages, against all odds, to make holidays run smoothly. There isn't too much to say about Jumbo, being as he's only been featured on two episodes, but they were very funny episodes, and I hope that he might appear for another holiday special in the future.
That covers all of the recurring segments featured on The Thrilling Adventure Hour, minus a couple of cross-over podcast episodes, which I will cover in part 3 of this (never-ending?) blog post. Stay tuned, solid citizens*!
* Don't get that reference? I suggest you crack in to those "Captain Laserbeam" episodes right away! :)
The Adventures of Captain Laserbeam
After "Beyond Belief," this is my favorite segment from The Thrilling Adventure Hour. "Captain Laserbeam" is a goofy superhero story featuring a campy Superman/Ironman-type protagonist who is helped out by a bunch of teenagers known as the Adventurekateers. As with "Beyond Belief," the stories of "Captain Laserbeam" as not serialized in the way that "Sparks Nevada" is; nonetheless, there is some development over the years in terms of character arcs, and I think it would be wiser to start listening to this segment from the beginning rather than trying to catch on now. Captain Laserbeam gets himself in all kinds of jams involving the various villains that plague his hometown of Apex City. He ranks this villains in order and like any good superhero, his villains are all ridiculously named and themed characters of their own. My particular favorite has been the Die-brarian (along with his henchman, Papercut), as his presence is a golden opportunity for a ton of bookish-based jokes. (I should have mentioned this in my earlier post: The Thrilling Adventure Hour isn't funny just because of situational comedies or witty repartee; it's also rife with tons of intellectual/nerdy jokes.)
Like with most of the other segments on The Thrilling Adventure Hour, part of the comedy comes from establishing regular catchphrases, but then "Captain Laserbeam" takes it a step further by eventually messing with the now-familiar phrases. Unlike most of the other segments, there isn't really a duo central to "Captain Laserbeam." Captain Laserbeam is more or less on his own, with an occasional bit of information supplied by the ever-rotating cast of Adventurekateers. That means there isn't the same tension of two opposites like Sparks and Croach in "Sparks Nevada" or a symbiotic working relationship like that of Frank and Sadie in "Beyond Belief." Still, Captain Laserbeam's short adventures usually do just fine with him more or less on his own.
Over time, however, the writers ingeniously introduced a new character as a great foil to Captain Laserbeam. The ever upbeat and optimistic Captain Laserbeam found an unlikely alliance with the darker, more pessimistic vigilante known as Phillip Fathom, the deep-sea detective. In one of the behind-the-scenes interviews released on the podcast, Hal Lublin (the voice behind Phillip Fathom, as well as a variety of other characters on The Thrilling Adventure Hour) discussed his process in coming up with an appropriate sound for the deep-sea detective: Lublin noted that the writers were clearly riffing on The Batman character with Phillip Fathom, causing Lublin to contemplate which Batman portrayer he should seek to imitate. Would it be Adam West? Michael Keaton? George Clooney? No, Lublin decided Phillip Fathom should be voiced like Christian Bale as Batman. Nothing is more hilarious than hearing Phillip Fathom on stage shouting something like "My parents were murdered at sea!" in that deep, gravelly voice. In fact, one of my absolute favorite episodes of "Captain Laserbeam" is the one in which Fathom is introduced; hearing him shout "I'M NOT A GOSSIP!" cracks me up every time I hear it. I would love to hear more from Phillip Fathom in the further (and I suspect we will), and I think a spin-off of "Captain Laserbeam" with Phillip Fathom's solo adventures would be a great addition to the current rotation of segments.
One of the compelling things about Captain Laserbeam is that his mythology is not completely fixed yet, and the audience is slowly learning things about his alter ego and history, including his relationship with fellow superhero Dream Girl. Between this and the possibly of exploring Phillip Fathom's background further, there is plenty of fodder for new "Captain Laserbeam" episodes in the future.
Tales from the Black Lagoon
"Tales from the Black Lagoon" is the one anomaly in The Thrilling Adventure Hour cannon. Unlike all the other segments, it is not read live in front of an audience and it's got a much darker vibe. It's certainly still funny, but in a far less obvious way than the other segments. "Tales from the Black Lagoon" plays like a 1940s film noir with the characters all pulled from the Golden Age studio lot, although of course all with some new twist for comedic effect. We've got a cannibalistic Cary Grant, a dope-dealing Shirley Temple, an opium-using Jimmy Stewart, and so forth. This segment challenges the vocal actors in a different way than all the others - it's not just a matter of creating a new tone or accent, it's taking on a well-known personality and voice. The smooth jazzy music, the narrative structure, and the storylines all fit the noir mystery tropes; in sum, this is a great comedy version of old detective stories and very fitting with the idea of an old-time radio program. Unfortunately, this segment hasn't been on the podcast in recent years; the muted comedy may have been less popular than some of the other segments, although the likelier explanation is that the technical aspects of this one made it more difficult to execute.
Jefferson Reid, Ace American / Amelia Earhart, Fearless Flyer
These two segments are similar enough for me to feel okay with wrapping them up together. Like "Tales from the Black Lagoon," the "Jefferson Reid" segment hasn't been on in several years. In this case, it's likely because the usual actor behind Jefferson Reid was Nathan Fillion who has since been tapped to play Cactoid Jim when he's available for a show. "Jefferson Reid" and "Amelia Earhart" are both set in an alternate reality World War II, with Jefferson Reid acting as a sort of super solider and Amelia Earhart a time-traveling pilot (who did not actually disappear without trace over the Bermuda Triangle, rather hiding herself so that she could take part in clandestine operations to stop Nazi victories before they happen). These two segments are my least favorite on the show; the stories seem to be the same thing over and over again, and there's only so many times I can hear Jefferson Reid, Amelia Earhart, or one of their compatriots talk about "dirty Krauts" before I get tired of it. Basically, unlike the other segments in The Thrilling Adventure Hour, these two programs seem unoriginal. Also, despite having two female leads, "Amelia Earhart" tends to annoy me by suggesting that the two women are lesbians. Because of course two women trying to be patriotic during a world war have to be homosexual. Otherwise, they'd be home tending to their Victory gardens and adjusting their cake recipes to account for sugar rations.
The Cross-Time Adventures of Colonel Tick-Tock / The Algonquin Four
"Colonel Tick-Tock" is one of the weaker segments on the show, although it's definitely grown on me over numerous episodes. Colonel Tick-Tock is a member of the Queen's Royal Chrono Patrol, meaning that his job is to police the timeline and time travel at a moment's notice if something goes wrong (i.e., a dinosaur shows up in the modern day). "Colonel Tick-Tock" is notable for its clever use of language/wordplay around time and time travel, and sometimes for coming up with some rather ridiculous historical mash-ups. For some reason, Colonel Tick-Tock is rather effeminate and hinted at being gay, even though he is married to a woman. Another odd thing is that the Queen of England is voiced by a male actor, although that ends up being rather funny (think Jon Stewart's impression of Queen Elizabeth II).
"Colonel Tick-Tock" has earned its own spin-off in "The Algonquin Four," although as I far as I can recall, they have had only one or perhaps two solo episodes. The Algonquin Four consists of a quadruple of historical figures who have been given superhero qualities via a cosmic event: Harry Houdini has an elastic body, Woodrow Wilson can make things invisible, Robert Benchley "has dominion over flames," and Dorothy Parker is more or less the female version of The Incredible Hulk (She literally shouts "Dorothy Parker smash!!" at a moment's notice. In the behind-the-scenes interviews, Annie Savage who voices Dorothy Parker notes that the writers' helpful description of how to play this character was simply "dumber.") The four characters find themselves having to battle various enemies at times. "The Algonquin Four" is not one of my favorite segments either, but it's entertaining enough as an occasional episode.
Down in Moonshine Holler
"Moonshine Holler" is the "fairy tale" of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, but also is the most realistic (if you can actually call it that) out of the selection of segments. "Moonshine Holler" is about a rich man who met a woman at a party and found out she was the "Hobo Princess" when she left behind a fingerless glove. He immediately gave us his riches, changed his name to "Banjo Bindlestuff," and began traipsing the Depression Era-landscape in search of the "hobo paradise" named Moonshine Holler, where he hopes to be reunited with the woman he loves. On the road, Banjo finds a mentor in fellow homeless wanderer Gummy, and they navigate the world of hard luck together.
As with "Sparks Nevada" and "Beyond Belief," we have a comedy that works well because of the two leads and how they play off of each other. One of my favorite running jokes is when Gummy tells Banjo to do something like say hello or thank you, noting "It's the hobo way!!" and Banjo sighs, pointing out that it's actually "the regular people way also." Gummy (who is unbelievably voiced by Hal Lublin, the force behind Phillip Fathom) is a fan of shivving people and eating pie, although not necessarily in that order. In fact, Gummy's favorite exclamation is "Apple pie!," which somehow never fails to make me laugh.
"Moonshine Holler" also works by having a number of situational comedies arise. Most episodes follow a standard format in which Banjo and Gummy come across someone(s) who Banjo hopes either is the Hobo Princess or has information about her. Instead, this person(s) has a problem of their own, which Banjo could solve but only if he reveals his true identity as a millionaire. In the nick of time and with Gummy's encouragement, Banjo thinks up a solution that will solve the current crisis without blowing his cover. Despite being rather formulaic like this, I always find the story in "Moonshine Holler" to be hilarious. The combination of the new and interesting characters, the absurdity of yet another situation, and the funny jokes always leave each episode feeling fresh. This segment feels the most like it could have an end date though, as there is clearly a conclusion coming at some point when Banjo at last finds the Hobo Princess. Still, it's been some time since there was a "Moonshine Holler" episode released on the podcast, so I feel like there's potential for plenty more adventures in store for Banjo and Gummy.
I do have to note on "Moonshine Holler" that this is the segment that most walks the dangerous border between comedy and insult. Personally, I find it very funny because it's all meant in good, ridiculous humor and obviously no one out there currently (or during the Depression) is giving up millions to chase after a Cinderella-like character to a place that may or may not exist. Still, homelessness is a real problem and using these old stereotypes of jumping trains, making stone soup, and warming oneself by trashcan fires is not a flattering (or accurate) portrayal. I try to take it in stride and just go with the humorous aspects, but I could definitely see how some might find this offensive. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.
Jumbo the Elephant Saves ... [insert appropriate holiday here]
"Jumbo" is a rather sporadic segment that only appears around certain holidays. In fact, the writers have noted that it's unlikely we'll hear from Jumbo again, although there are still other holidays that could use a little elephantine cheer. Jumbo is a jazz band-playing elephant of Cuban descent living in Miami. Yes, he's an elephant from Cuba, because that makes geographical sense. However, it does mean that he pronounces his name as "Yumbo," which absolutely kills me for no good reason. It's just hilarious every time I hear it. Jumbo's main function is to tell holiday stories and talk about how he manages, against all odds, to make holidays run smoothly. There isn't too much to say about Jumbo, being as he's only been featured on two episodes, but they were very funny episodes, and I hope that he might appear for another holiday special in the future.
That covers all of the recurring segments featured on The Thrilling Adventure Hour, minus a couple of cross-over podcast episodes, which I will cover in part 3 of this (never-ending?) blog post. Stay tuned, solid citizens*!
* Don't get that reference? I suggest you crack in to those "Captain Laserbeam" episodes right away! :)
Sunday, February 9, 2014
The Podcast's the Thing Wherein I'll Catch a Laugh ... (Part 1)
As I've mentioned before, I absolutely love Paget Brewster as an actor. So much so in fact that I follow her account on Twitter because she posts funny and random things and just generally sounds so down to earth. Frequently, she would mention on Twitter a podcast that she participates in, and I wouldn't even bother to click on the link because I had given up on podcasts years earlier. (When I first got an Ipod, I was obsessed with the idea of podcasts and downloaded so many different ones, including a great too many news ones that released an episode every day, that I soon became overwhelmed with the number of unheard episodes I'd have queuing up at any given moment. So then rather than being a reasonable person who weeded out only some of the podcasts I was subscribed to, I simply deleted them all.) Eventually though, repeatedly seeing Brewster make reference to her role in the podcast compelled me to finally check out the premise of this particular podcast. When I found out that the podcast in question was The Thrilling Adventure Hour, a self-declared "new-time podcast in the style of old-time radio," I knew I'd have to check it out. Having spent a great deal of time with my grandparents when I was growing up, I had developed a love for classic movies, old-time crooners, and even Golden Age radio programs. The Thrilling Adventure Hour started as a staged reading out in Los Angeles and was eventually recorded to be shared with a listening audience throughout the country (perhaps even world?).
From that point on, I downloaded all the old episodes of The Thrilling Adventure Hour and would listen to them while doing all kinds of mundane tasks - usually housework like laundry or dishes. It's amazing how much faster and cheerfully these tedious tasks go when you're listening to something that grips your imagination and makes you laugh. The episodes are generally fairly short (about 20-30 minutes on average, with some exceptions) and come out with just the right frequency so that you are neither up to your elbows in backlog nor sitting around waiting impatiently for the next one to arrive. The monthly staged show is roughly one hour (hence the name) with three segments and some interstitial materials including advertisements for made-up products (WorkJuice Brand Coffee and Patriot Cigarettes, with the former eventually becoming an actual product). The podcast breaks each of the three segments down into its own episode, releasing them one at a time. (In the past, it occasionally had separate very brief episodes for the interstitials as well but those have not surfaced in quite some time.) The staged show always opens with the segment "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and ends with the program "Beyond Belief." The middle show changes from month to month, although there is a limited universe of available choices at the moment (of course, the writers could keep on inventing new programs, or spin-offs of the other segments, to fill this time slot). Lately, podcast episodes have also included behind-the-scenes interviews with the show's writers, creative team, and actors as well as an ongoing Q&A session with two of the actors.
The show is written monthly by television writers Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (writers of the show Supernatural, amongst other things) with other members of the creative team including a director, composer, and live orchestra. The staged show is performed by a standard cast known as the WorkJuice Players (who all play a set role in one or two segments as well as guest spots on other segments) in addition to a variety of guest stars (some recurring). The Thrilling Adventure Hour attracts incredible talent, many of whom are well-known television actors. As the show has gotten increasingly popular, the guests have become bigger "names" in the business. The Thrilling Adventure Hour has become so popular that it's branched out to other media, including a graphic novel that tells the further stories of the characters introduced in the staged show/podcast. In this blog entry, I'd like to talk a little bit further about the main two segments of the show, "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and "Beyond Belief." In a follow-up post, I will explore the other programs as well.
Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars
"Sparks Nevada" is a segment that is basically a Western-themed space opera. As the name implies, it takes place on Mars, where for some reason Earthling Sparks Nevada has been put in charge of all law enforcement. His deputy-of-sorts is a Martian named Croach the Tracker who feels he must re-pay his debt of onus to Nevada (with the onus constantly being added to or subtracted from in a balance that only Croach maintains). Each episode sees Sparks and Croach battling some new enemy of sorts, whether a literal attack by robots or something more metaphysical such as Nevada's depression when the woman he loves chooses someone else over him. "Sparks Nevada" is the most serialized of all the segments on The Thrilling Adventure Hour; therefore, this is the one that is best to start with from the beginning rather than trying to jump in now and hope to catch on to all the character arcs and in-jokes.
One of the funniest things about "Sparks Nevada" is the interaction between Sparks and Croach. Sparks is more of a "go with your guts" kind of guy while Croach tries to rationalize and reason through everything. Both have hilarious speech patterns with Sparks spluttering along and Croach coming across rather stilted. As I mentioned, there are numerous in-jokes, including oft-repeated lines and variations of them - for example, Nevada's famous catchphrase "I'm from ... Earth" and Croach constantly explaining Martian things to Sparks with "which you designate [insert English word here]." But as Marc Evan Jackson, the voice talent behind Sparks Nevada, noted in a recent Q&A session about the show, the characters in this show are more than they seem - and they are certainly growing. Jackson pointed this out particularly in the context of Croach, who can seem rather robotic, especially when the show first began, but who has come to developing a wider range of emotions.
However, the "Sparks Nevada" universe is more than just these two characters. There is a host of interesting recurring characters, including the Barkeep (who doesn't want trouble in his place), the artificial intelligence that operates Barkeep's space saloon (and does a lot of thinking on her own), Felton (an everyday citizen who is like the hypochondriac of trouble: he thinks it's there no matter what), the Red Plains Rider (potential love interest of both Sparks and Croach as well as a gunslinger in her own right), Cactoid Jim (a helpful and handsome vigilante; Sparks is often as jealous of Jim as he is grateful to him), Pemilly Stalwark (winner of the Earth's Moon's punishment soccer tournament, a riff on the very popular series The Hunger Games), Rebecca Rose Rushmore (an author of universal acclaim), not to mention all the outlaws that Nevada comes across as a matter of routine in his professional life. These outlaws and the hijinks that they cause add to the hilarity of the show; for instance, the mere entrance of Los Banditos Mutantes causes a ripple of laughter to ensue. The show is a good mix of hilarious situations caused via Nevada's work and those created by the issues in his social life. One of the funniest - and most touching - episodes of all combines both perfectly, in a musical format to boot.
Another thing that I appreciate about this program is that while Westerns as a genre (and to a lesser extent, science fiction as well) tend to be light on female characters, let alone ones that are more than just "damsels in distress" stereotypes, that is not the case here. "Sparks Nevada" may have more men than women on the show, but the female characters that are present are strong and independent. Red is a feisty character with her wits about her who seems to be faster at taking out the bad guys than Nevada is. Of course, the downside is every once in a while due to the fast pace of the show and the need to always create new tensions, Red can sometimes seem a little wishy-washy with her affections - she loves Nevada, she loves Croach, she loves Nevada, she loves Jim, she loves Nevada, she loves Jim. Sometimes it gets hard to remember from episode to episode where her affections lie. Pemilly Stalwak, as the character inspired by The Hunger Games's tough-as-nails protagonist Katniss Everdeen, is a complicated character who is physically tough and learning to become emotionally strong. Rebecca Rose Rushmore is the most stereotypical relationship-hungry woman, but she also has a steady backbone as well as a successful career of her own.
"Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" is the story that started the whole production and is one of the most popular segments on the show. For that reason, the segment has spawned various spin-offs, including "Cactoid Jim, King of the Martian Frontier" about the further adventures of Cactoid Jim sans Nevada and crew, "Tales of the United Solar System Alliance" about a spaceship crew navigating the same universe and occasionally crossing into a "Sparks Nevada" episode, and most recently a segment featuring the Red Plains Rider in a solo adventure. As the show and the podcast both continue, no doubt we will see (read: hear) more growth in the characters populating the "Sparks Nevada" universe, other ridiculous antics, and perhaps additional spin-offs from the first thrilling adventure of the hour.
Beyond Belief
The Thrilling Adventure Hour always concludes with an episode of "Beyond Belief," which the creators refer to as a supernatural Nick and Nora. This segment's protagonists are the married couple Frank and Sadie Doyle, who'd gladly do nothing more than spend all their time locked up together in their Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment tossing back drink after drink. Sadly for the Doyles (but luckily for us), all manner of supernatural creatures have a knack for finding their way into Frank and Sadie's life. It probably doesn't help that Sadie's best friend is a vampire married to a werewolf and than Frank spent at least some of his orphaned childhood growing up in a church full of exorcists. Still, the Doyles have managed to encountered all types of unpleasant monsters and weird situations even when they don't bother to leave their apartment at all. Evil seeks them out. As the show continues, the "Beyond Belief" monsters have segued from ones we've all heard of such as vampires, genies, and so on to more obscure ones like a possessed gingerbread man, a Pinocchio-inspired boy trying to convince Frank and Sadie that they are his parents, etc. The show is never frightening though (nor is it meant to be) and despite usually being drunk at the time, the Doyles always manage to know exactly what to do in any given situation to eliminate the threat. They do this all while swigging back yet another drink ("clink!" being their catchphrase) and swapping turns on supplying the snappy sarcastic one-liners. The Doyles, especially Frank, also have a habit of lamenting about their desire to be alone with one another rather than actually being worried about the impending threat of whatever latest monster(s) they are facing.
Like with "Sparks Nevada," one of the most compelling things about "Beyond Belief" is the relationship between the two leads. The Doyles' love for each other and complete antipathy for just about everyone else they encounter would be horrible if you met them in real life, but here it's comedy gold. Paul F. Tompkins and Paget Brewster shine in the roles of Frank and Sadie Doyle, and their accents for these two characters are some of the most fun ones on The Thrilling Adventure. Unlike in "Sparks Nevada," these two characters are basically static and you could jump in on any random episode and probably not be missing much. (There are, however, a few episodes that make reference to an earlier one in an important way, such as the recent "Basil's Day" one.) Nevertheless, the characters and their witty repartee (not to mention whatever antics will occur with their latest nemesis) make the show interesting and compelling enough that I actually prefer this one to "Sparks Nevada" (indeed, it's my favorite segment of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, hands down). And while Frank and Sadie don't really change over the life of the show/podcast, that doesn't mean they are always the same from episode to episode. Over time, we learn more about their past lives, their friends, and their few hobbies outside of imbibing alcohol nonstop. Each episode brings a fresh new adventure full of laughs so even without a serialized nature for this segment, I still can't wait for the next one to show up in my queue. "Beyond Belief" is certainly the perfect nightcap to conclude The Thrilling Adventure Hour.
That's all for this post, readers. Stay tuned for part 2, in which I'll discuss the other segments found in The Thrilling Adventure Hour.
From that point on, I downloaded all the old episodes of The Thrilling Adventure Hour and would listen to them while doing all kinds of mundane tasks - usually housework like laundry or dishes. It's amazing how much faster and cheerfully these tedious tasks go when you're listening to something that grips your imagination and makes you laugh. The episodes are generally fairly short (about 20-30 minutes on average, with some exceptions) and come out with just the right frequency so that you are neither up to your elbows in backlog nor sitting around waiting impatiently for the next one to arrive. The monthly staged show is roughly one hour (hence the name) with three segments and some interstitial materials including advertisements for made-up products (WorkJuice Brand Coffee and Patriot Cigarettes, with the former eventually becoming an actual product). The podcast breaks each of the three segments down into its own episode, releasing them one at a time. (In the past, it occasionally had separate very brief episodes for the interstitials as well but those have not surfaced in quite some time.) The staged show always opens with the segment "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and ends with the program "Beyond Belief." The middle show changes from month to month, although there is a limited universe of available choices at the moment (of course, the writers could keep on inventing new programs, or spin-offs of the other segments, to fill this time slot). Lately, podcast episodes have also included behind-the-scenes interviews with the show's writers, creative team, and actors as well as an ongoing Q&A session with two of the actors.
The show is written monthly by television writers Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (writers of the show Supernatural, amongst other things) with other members of the creative team including a director, composer, and live orchestra. The staged show is performed by a standard cast known as the WorkJuice Players (who all play a set role in one or two segments as well as guest spots on other segments) in addition to a variety of guest stars (some recurring). The Thrilling Adventure Hour attracts incredible talent, many of whom are well-known television actors. As the show has gotten increasingly popular, the guests have become bigger "names" in the business. The Thrilling Adventure Hour has become so popular that it's branched out to other media, including a graphic novel that tells the further stories of the characters introduced in the staged show/podcast. In this blog entry, I'd like to talk a little bit further about the main two segments of the show, "Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" and "Beyond Belief." In a follow-up post, I will explore the other programs as well.
Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars
"Sparks Nevada" is a segment that is basically a Western-themed space opera. As the name implies, it takes place on Mars, where for some reason Earthling Sparks Nevada has been put in charge of all law enforcement. His deputy-of-sorts is a Martian named Croach the Tracker who feels he must re-pay his debt of onus to Nevada (with the onus constantly being added to or subtracted from in a balance that only Croach maintains). Each episode sees Sparks and Croach battling some new enemy of sorts, whether a literal attack by robots or something more metaphysical such as Nevada's depression when the woman he loves chooses someone else over him. "Sparks Nevada" is the most serialized of all the segments on The Thrilling Adventure Hour; therefore, this is the one that is best to start with from the beginning rather than trying to jump in now and hope to catch on to all the character arcs and in-jokes.
One of the funniest things about "Sparks Nevada" is the interaction between Sparks and Croach. Sparks is more of a "go with your guts" kind of guy while Croach tries to rationalize and reason through everything. Both have hilarious speech patterns with Sparks spluttering along and Croach coming across rather stilted. As I mentioned, there are numerous in-jokes, including oft-repeated lines and variations of them - for example, Nevada's famous catchphrase "I'm from ... Earth" and Croach constantly explaining Martian things to Sparks with "which you designate [insert English word here]." But as Marc Evan Jackson, the voice talent behind Sparks Nevada, noted in a recent Q&A session about the show, the characters in this show are more than they seem - and they are certainly growing. Jackson pointed this out particularly in the context of Croach, who can seem rather robotic, especially when the show first began, but who has come to developing a wider range of emotions.
However, the "Sparks Nevada" universe is more than just these two characters. There is a host of interesting recurring characters, including the Barkeep (who doesn't want trouble in his place), the artificial intelligence that operates Barkeep's space saloon (and does a lot of thinking on her own), Felton (an everyday citizen who is like the hypochondriac of trouble: he thinks it's there no matter what), the Red Plains Rider (potential love interest of both Sparks and Croach as well as a gunslinger in her own right), Cactoid Jim (a helpful and handsome vigilante; Sparks is often as jealous of Jim as he is grateful to him), Pemilly Stalwark (winner of the Earth's Moon's punishment soccer tournament, a riff on the very popular series The Hunger Games), Rebecca Rose Rushmore (an author of universal acclaim), not to mention all the outlaws that Nevada comes across as a matter of routine in his professional life. These outlaws and the hijinks that they cause add to the hilarity of the show; for instance, the mere entrance of Los Banditos Mutantes causes a ripple of laughter to ensue. The show is a good mix of hilarious situations caused via Nevada's work and those created by the issues in his social life. One of the funniest - and most touching - episodes of all combines both perfectly, in a musical format to boot.
Another thing that I appreciate about this program is that while Westerns as a genre (and to a lesser extent, science fiction as well) tend to be light on female characters, let alone ones that are more than just "damsels in distress" stereotypes, that is not the case here. "Sparks Nevada" may have more men than women on the show, but the female characters that are present are strong and independent. Red is a feisty character with her wits about her who seems to be faster at taking out the bad guys than Nevada is. Of course, the downside is every once in a while due to the fast pace of the show and the need to always create new tensions, Red can sometimes seem a little wishy-washy with her affections - she loves Nevada, she loves Croach, she loves Nevada, she loves Jim, she loves Nevada, she loves Jim. Sometimes it gets hard to remember from episode to episode where her affections lie. Pemilly Stalwak, as the character inspired by The Hunger Games's tough-as-nails protagonist Katniss Everdeen, is a complicated character who is physically tough and learning to become emotionally strong. Rebecca Rose Rushmore is the most stereotypical relationship-hungry woman, but she also has a steady backbone as well as a successful career of her own.
"Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars" is the story that started the whole production and is one of the most popular segments on the show. For that reason, the segment has spawned various spin-offs, including "Cactoid Jim, King of the Martian Frontier" about the further adventures of Cactoid Jim sans Nevada and crew, "Tales of the United Solar System Alliance" about a spaceship crew navigating the same universe and occasionally crossing into a "Sparks Nevada" episode, and most recently a segment featuring the Red Plains Rider in a solo adventure. As the show and the podcast both continue, no doubt we will see (read: hear) more growth in the characters populating the "Sparks Nevada" universe, other ridiculous antics, and perhaps additional spin-offs from the first thrilling adventure of the hour.
Beyond Belief
The Thrilling Adventure Hour always concludes with an episode of "Beyond Belief," which the creators refer to as a supernatural Nick and Nora. This segment's protagonists are the married couple Frank and Sadie Doyle, who'd gladly do nothing more than spend all their time locked up together in their Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment tossing back drink after drink. Sadly for the Doyles (but luckily for us), all manner of supernatural creatures have a knack for finding their way into Frank and Sadie's life. It probably doesn't help that Sadie's best friend is a vampire married to a werewolf and than Frank spent at least some of his orphaned childhood growing up in a church full of exorcists. Still, the Doyles have managed to encountered all types of unpleasant monsters and weird situations even when they don't bother to leave their apartment at all. Evil seeks them out. As the show continues, the "Beyond Belief" monsters have segued from ones we've all heard of such as vampires, genies, and so on to more obscure ones like a possessed gingerbread man, a Pinocchio-inspired boy trying to convince Frank and Sadie that they are his parents, etc. The show is never frightening though (nor is it meant to be) and despite usually being drunk at the time, the Doyles always manage to know exactly what to do in any given situation to eliminate the threat. They do this all while swigging back yet another drink ("clink!" being their catchphrase) and swapping turns on supplying the snappy sarcastic one-liners. The Doyles, especially Frank, also have a habit of lamenting about their desire to be alone with one another rather than actually being worried about the impending threat of whatever latest monster(s) they are facing.
Like with "Sparks Nevada," one of the most compelling things about "Beyond Belief" is the relationship between the two leads. The Doyles' love for each other and complete antipathy for just about everyone else they encounter would be horrible if you met them in real life, but here it's comedy gold. Paul F. Tompkins and Paget Brewster shine in the roles of Frank and Sadie Doyle, and their accents for these two characters are some of the most fun ones on The Thrilling Adventure. Unlike in "Sparks Nevada," these two characters are basically static and you could jump in on any random episode and probably not be missing much. (There are, however, a few episodes that make reference to an earlier one in an important way, such as the recent "Basil's Day" one.) Nevertheless, the characters and their witty repartee (not to mention whatever antics will occur with their latest nemesis) make the show interesting and compelling enough that I actually prefer this one to "Sparks Nevada" (indeed, it's my favorite segment of The Thrilling Adventure Hour, hands down). And while Frank and Sadie don't really change over the life of the show/podcast, that doesn't mean they are always the same from episode to episode. Over time, we learn more about their past lives, their friends, and their few hobbies outside of imbibing alcohol nonstop. Each episode brings a fresh new adventure full of laughs so even without a serialized nature for this segment, I still can't wait for the next one to show up in my queue. "Beyond Belief" is certainly the perfect nightcap to conclude The Thrilling Adventure Hour.
That's all for this post, readers. Stay tuned for part 2, in which I'll discuss the other segments found in The Thrilling Adventure Hour.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Fighting for Survival: The Hunger Games
Hello blogger friends! I know it’s been some time since I’ve updated last, but I haven’t forgotten about you!! The past month or so I’ve been so caught up with work that I’ve hardly had any time to do anything arts and entertainment related, let alone have time to write about it. But I’m now back and hoping to backtrack to some of the things that have happened in the past month. I’m starting with the most recent in the hopes that it will be the most relevant.
With that, it’s time to talk about The Hunger Games! Yes, those Hunger Games that have dominated all the pop culture channels lately. I read the first book back in my YA lit course for grad school and, like most of my classmates, moved on to the second book as quickly as possible … and then sadly had to wait for the third book to be released! Once it was out, I devoured that book as well. All that being said though, I had some concerns about the books, and I was fairly apprehensive when I heard that a movie version was in the works. A movie seemed to me the worse idea for this concept – it would be too violent and too much like the reality show known as the Hunger Games that the books are criticizing.
But when the movie’s trailer came out, it seemed like it was going to be fairly good adaptation of the book. However, the trailer ended the story right at the part where Katniss is entering the arena, so my fears about all the gore to follow were still not assuaged. Soon the movie was getting all kinds of buzz (mostly good; for instance, this article with the sub-head of “Just go see it.”) and knowing that the author had been on board as a screenwriter also was a plus. So when a friend asked if I wanted to see the movie on opening weekend, I decided to go for it and hope for the best.
[Please be aware that in discussing the film, I will reveal some spoilers. If you haven’t read the books and/or seen the film yet and you want to go in without having anything given away, you’ll want to stop here and come back later.]
Overall, it was a fairly decent adaptation of a book, although our little group of movie-goers felt that if we hadn’t read the book beforehand, we might have missed out on a lot of the underlying story. Since it was such a concern of mine going in, it’s worth noting early on that the movie dealt with the violence well – it was not too gory like I feared but it still got across the idea that this was a bloodbath and not something we’d want to emulate. For instance, the opening scene in the arena was shot in quick sequences that showed there knife fights going on along with some accompanying blood, but mostly it cut from one fight to the next so quickly that you didn’t get too much up close and grisly details. (To be honest, it was better than a lot of episodes of Criminal Minds actually, and I’d like to point out to that show’s producers/writers that this movie is a perfect example of how you can get the creepy point across without being overly explicit. As much as I like that show for its characters and psychology, they can be totally over the top in the amount of blood and gore they feel the need to display. Side rant now done; proceed on to The Hunger Games review continued.)
Likewise, the movie started out with a number of quick shots, trying to tell visually and succinctly that District 12 was a poor, starving town. I think it got that point across, especially in contrast with the later scenes in the Capitol. Still, as I mentioned above, even in a two and an half hour long movie, there was still so much left out and left unsaid. For instance, Madge doesn’t give Katniss the mockingjay pin; instead it’s just some little trinket that Katniss picks up. Even though this seems like a small change, this is huge in my opinion because it changes the symbolism, and as anyone who has read all three of the books already knows, the mockingjay increasingly becomes an important symbol to Katniss and the rest of the districts. Another significant change is that when Gale says he and Katniss should make a run for it and live in the woods, it’s after they’ve seen the hovercraft but, unlike in the book, they do not see the capture of the people that the craft is chasing. For people who haven’t read the book, I would imagine they are thinking at the moment, why don’t Gale and Katniss just head for the hills then? I also didn’t think it was as obvious to non-readers that putting one’s name into the Reaping lottery multiple times meant more food or that winners of the Hunger Games not only live but are set for life then with food and shelter. It’s also unclear that Peeta’s action of throwing bread to Katniss was while she was starving to death and was the turn-around point in her life when she pulled herself together to start providing for her family. Again, this is a huge deal because, as Katniss explicitly says in the book, Peeta being a tribute along with her is probably her worse-case scenario (other than Gale being the male tribute). In fact, there was so much back story that could not be included in the movie that our whole little group felt that one entire movie could have been made of everything leading up to the arena, and the movie could ended there like the trailer did. We concluded that we would have all preferred a miniseries that would have allowed for much more detail.
When we get to the Capitol and the preparation for the games, there were again some really great visuals. There was one particularly haunting scene (an addition to the movie, not to be found in the book) where Haymitch watches a family in the Capitol – a young boy has just received a sword as a present from his parents and is chasing his sister around with it. It’s such a revealing glimpse into the mindset of the people of the Capitol for whom this death match really is just a game where they get to root for their favorites and then go home with no blood on their hands. Other great visuals include the fashion choices of the Capitol citizens, especially the nearly unrecognizable Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, which really makes you think about the absurdities of what we consider beauty. Obviously we don’t consider the Capitol’s “crazy” hairstyles and fashion choices our beauty, but stepping back objectively, the plastic surgeries and every else we do to change our natural states (i.e., plucking eyebrows, shaving legs, straightening or curling hair, applying makeup, wearing heels, etc.) must look crazy and absurd to an outsider. On that note, Katniss while in District 12 looks too clean and put together for a girl on the brink of poverty who spends her days in the woods hunting animals to feed herself and her family. It would make more sense when they prepared Katniss for the games by plucking her eyebrows and washing her skin and waxing her legs if her eyebrows weren’t already perfectly tweezed and her skin already glowing and her legs already bare. Sometimes Hollywood is so obsessed with showing ideal bodies that they can’t even give a less-than-perfect “before” for their make-over roles. Not giving any voice-overs to Katniss during this time (unlike the book where we are privy to all of her thoughts), I think viewer also misses out on how this is a critique of the celebrity image. Of course, I also thought the books could have been more explicit at times with this critique because sometimes it came across more as Katniss suddenly becoming a girly girl who felt like detailing every item in her new-found wardrobe.
The time in the arena itself seems to go pretty fast. While this makes sense in many respects (time constraints particularly, but also trying to downplay some of the gore so that the movie could still attract its core YA audience with a PG-13 rating), I think it undermines the point that is like a war for the teens who go into the games. It is not a blitz that comes and ends quickly; it is a long and trying, not to mention, traumatizing event that even the winners cannot come out of unscathed, physically or emotionally. As one person in our group put it, “There was no hunger in the Hunger Games.” This was true; unlike in the book, where Katniss isn’t just battling her fellow contestants but also starvation and dehydration, the movie version has Katniss finding food and water pretty easily. If I recall correctly, in the book weeks go by within the arena whereas in the movie it seemed only like four or five days.
The ending of the movie was a bit odd to me also. It puts less of a point on the danger that Katniss and Peeta are now in and that they have to keep up the “show” if they intend to keep alive. President Snow’s comments to Katniss are by no means as threatening as they could be and, unlike in the book, Peeta and Katniss seem blissfully unaware of any trouble on the horizon and are smiling happy together instead of an angry Peeta realizing that he was being used by Katniss in the arena. While movie series are always trying to leave a hook to pull the reader into the next movie, I was surprised that this movie did not take the bait that was left there by the book of uprisings in the districts and etc. to pull viewers back for the next one. A somewhat recent Slate article wonders how the third book will play out on the big screen; I’m more concerned about how the second one will as that was the weakest link in my opinion. And this first movie surprisingly left no clues as to how that one will play out.
All and all though, I was pleased with the movie, given the limitations of transferring a story from the medium of a book to the medium of film. So much of the book is in Katniss’s head that it’s hard to really get that to film, especially when the filmmakers decide to not have any voiceovers. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss is very good at expressing things without it being said, but still there’s much that left missing, and sometimes this leads to far too many close-ups of her face, especially in the beginning of the movie. Showing some other points of view helps to elucidate at times, especially when the gamemakers or Cesar step up to explain something. Some of the scenes between President Snow and Seneca Crane, however, just felt like too much. Considering all the parts that had to be sacrificed due to time limitations, I would have rather not had these scenes in their place. While I can no longer find where I read this, I also heard one critic rail that the movie made President Snow out to be “the” villain instead one of many complicit in this society, and I could see how these scenes would add fuel to that fire.
There were also some very emotional and touching scenes in the movie, like when Prim is called but Katniss volunteers or when Rue dies, both of which brought tears to my eyes. The young actors playing these characters were both great in their roles, as was nearly all of the rest of the actors in the movie. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch was the only exception. He was too much the caricature of the drunk in his first scene but then somehow after that he seems to have it all together. He’s really not the bitter and broken man that he is in the books – someone who has been ravaged by his time in the arena. I’ve mentioned it before but I think there can’t be too fine a point on that idea: Even when someone wins The Hunger Games, they are damaged by it. Like a solider, they suffer from PTSD and are never the same again. Again, I can’t remember where, but I recall reading that the Haymitch character was cleaned up somewhat for the movie to be more fitting for a YA audience, but I think it’s a disservice to the character and the themes of the story.
In terms of casting, I had a little concern about the diversity. No, I’m not saying that having an-all Caucasian cast was what I had in mind and having any black characters somehow ruined the movie, like a bunch of ignorant people have said. Quite the opposite – there were no Latino actors as far as I could see and there was only one character was possibly Asian. There was definitely some attempt to make sure some black actors were in the movie, but the choices seemed odd. For instance, when cutting to the scene of the uprising in District 11 after Rue’s death (one of those great moments in the movie when you get to know more than Katniss; she doesn’t find out about that uprising until the second book), we see that most of the people in the crowd there are black. It just seemed a poor choice (and fulfilling too many tired stereotypes that black people are more violent than other racial groups) to show a riot being largely conducted by black people against the dressed-all-in-white peacekeepers. Likewise, in the Capitol, it seems like the audience is largely white while the more servant-like roles (i.e., both Katniss’s and Peeta’s designers) are black, another old stereotypical movie role of the “mammy” character. It seems that the dystopian future is still stuck in a lot of old racial stereotypes. It’s not like any of us want to go live in Panem, with its yearly gruesome festival of sacrificing teenagers, but it’s not encouraging to find that even when looking forward to the future, we can’t imagine a world with a different view toward innate skin colors.
In terms of casting, I had a little concern about the diversity. No, I’m not saying that having an-all Caucasian cast was what I had in mind and having any black characters somehow ruined the movie, like a bunch of ignorant people have said. Quite the opposite – there were no Latino actors as far as I could see and there was only one character was possibly Asian. There was definitely some attempt to make sure some black actors were in the movie, but the choices seemed odd. For instance, when cutting to the scene of the uprising in District 11 after Rue’s death (one of those great moments in the movie when you get to know more than Katniss; she doesn’t find out about that uprising until the second book), we see that most of the people in the crowd there are black. It just seemed a poor choice (and fulfilling too many tired stereotypes that black people are more violent than other racial groups) to show a riot being largely conducted by black people against the dressed-all-in-white peacekeepers. Likewise, in the Capitol, it seems like the audience is largely white while the more servant-like roles (i.e., both Katniss’s and Peeta’s designers) are black, another old stereotypical movie role of the “mammy” character. It seems that the dystopian future is still stuck in a lot of old racial stereotypes. It’s not like any of us want to go live in Panem, with its yearly gruesome festival of sacrificing teenagers, but it’s not encouraging to find that even when looking forward to the future, we can’t imagine a world with a different view toward innate skin colors.
All that being said, I mostly agree with my friend who came away from the movie still feeling like she'd still recommend The Hunger Games books to many but was less sure about recommending the movie. I think I'd recommend the movie only to readers of the book, mostly for comparison purposes, but I'd tell non-readers that they absolutely had to read the book before even considering taking a trip to their local movie theater.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Movies for the Seated Superhero, Part Deux
As loyal readers of this blog may recall, a couple of months ago a friend and I had a movie night with the theme of movies based on comic books/graphic novels. To refresh your memory, below is the list we came up with originally (with one addition). Note that this is by no means an inclusive list of all the movies made based on comic books, just some of the ones we were more interested in seeing.
Well, we re-visited the comic book movie night idea recently, so I’ve bolded the movies we watched this time around and I’ll discuss those below. While I usually try to avoid spoilers on this blog, in this particular post I will not be doing so as I have things to discuss that involve giving away lots of details about these movies. So if you like to go into your movies with little expectations, you are duly forewarned. (However, you can still read the “basic plot” paragraphs without getting any spoilers.) Also note that while I obsessively-compulsively alphabetized the list as I tend to do, I will discuss the movies in the order that we watched them rather than alphabetically.
Batman (1989)
Batman Begins
Batman Returns
Captain America: The First Avenger
Dick Tracy
The Dark Knight
Hanna*^
The Incredibles*^
Iron Man 1 & 2
Persepolis
RED*
Salt^
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World*
Sin City*
Sky High^
The Spirit
Superman Returns
Tales of the Black Freighter
Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles
V for Vendetta
Wanted
Watchmen
X2
X-Men: First Class*
^These ones are not actually based on comic books, but they are action/adventure/sci-fi/superheroes so we felt we could add them to the list.
*These ones were movies we watched in the first batch and were discussed previously on this blog here.
Iron Man
Basic plot: Wealthy Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), owner of the weapons-manufacturing Stark Industries, is your stereotypical playboy until a visit to Afghanistan to see his products in action goes haywire. Stark ends up captured by a shadowy terrorist group known as the Ten Rings who hold him hostage in a cave for months, demanding that he re-create for them a missile originally developed for the U.S. armed forces. Instead, Stark uses the equipment and materials they supply to build a super suit that will act both as armor and weapon – as well as Stark’s only hope of survival. Once he escapes and returns home, Stark decides to make a new and improved suit. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing both domestically and abroad that may call for Stark’s new-found philanthropy and vigilantism.
I have to admit I wasn’t too keen on this movie when it first came out. It’s not that it looked particularly unappealing; it’s just that it didn’t look particularly appealing. But then it got both critical acclaim (it was even nominated for two Oscars) and audience raves (including amongst my family members, most especially from my dad and my brother-in-law). But after finally watching it myself, I still came away with the feeling that it wasn’t particularly appealing nor unappealing. There was nothing specifically off-putting about the movie, but there wasn’t anything that makes it very memorable to my mind.
Overall, it seemed that the Iron Man story relies on a lot of common comic book and movie tropes. For instance, there’s the wealthy guy turned vigilante angle (not only has this been done before, but it’s been done so much that Ranker.com actually created a list of the 20 richest comic book characters); the token African-American character (I honestly didn’t see much of reason to have the character of Rhodey in the movie other than the desperate attempt to fill a racial diversity quota, although I have a feeling based on the Iron Man comic storylines that his character becomes more developed in the later movies); the token “girl Friday” character in the ridiculously named Pepper Potts (again, it felt like a desperate attempt to fill a gender diversity quota as character development was lacking here also. And seriously, after years of Tony barely remembering Pepper’s existence and Pepper having to deal with Tony’s one-night stands, we’re suddenly supposed to believe that these two have a thing for each other based on one dance at a party?); and so forth. It’s almost as though someone just pulled out all the elements of successful comic books and action movies, threw them together haphazardly, and then hoped for the best. According to IMDb, the movie’s script was not entirely written when filming started and the actors often had to ad-lib lines. This perhaps contributed to the overall feeling that the movie is half-baked and the characters are not fully developed, despite some fine actors enlisted for the movie’s main roles, including Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow both of whom I’ve admired in past roles. Again, it’s not that there’s anything particularly bad about the movie, it’s just that somehow it all didn’t come together and settle just right to make a compelling watch.
The beginning of the movie did seem to drag a bit for me, with the long focus on Tony Stark’s capture, building of the original armored suit, working on improving the suit, and finally testing the changes made. It seemed like a lot of build up before the story really got going (and then it was fairly predictable). However, I could see how engineers like my dad and my brother-in-law would really enjoy this movie because of all those details. In the end, my friend summed up it best with a shrug and the comment, “It’s an origins movie.”
Sky High
Basic plot: Will Stronghold is about to start his first year of high school, but not just any high school – he’s attending Sky High, the school for teens with superpowers. As the son of two renown superheroes known as Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), who also double as successful realtors as their cover, Will is expected to be amazing but he has yet to exhibit any superpowers. On the first day of school, Will is drafted as a sidekick rather than a hero, and he fluctuates between worrying that he is just a late bloomer and that he’ll never have any superpowers. As Will and his fellow sidekicks learn about hero support, trouble begins brewing and it’s more than just bullies, puppy love, and the brooding outsider who seems to have it out for Will.
This Disney movie is a cheesy production aimed for families with tweens, but it’s surprisingly good compared to the tons of other dross that Disney puts out for this age group. (I am a huge fan of Disney’s animated feature films, but the vast majority of their live-action movies are just terrible.) Yes, the movie is certainly corny, particularly the ridiculous villains who seemed to be pulled straight from Power Rangers. (Seriously, have you seen some of the villains from Power Rangers? It’s mind-boggling how a show this bad could be popular for so long.) But the movie is also a great spoof on common comic book/superhero elements. For instance, there’s a scene early on when Will’s friend Layla comes over and calls Will’s father “Commander” in reference to his glasses-less face. He remembers his slip and puts his glasses back on to complete his realtor disguise. It’s of course a pass at how ridiculous it is that in so many comic books, the other characters can’t figure out that the alter egos are actually the superheroes (a.k.a., Clark Kent puts on his glasses and no one can tell he’s really Superman!).
Furthermore, the movie has some really good lessons in it without being overly didactic or moralistic. There’s the overarching message about everyone having a role to play given their talents, even if they usually feel more like sidekicks than heroes. There’s also more typical high school dramas and challenges, such as trying to find a place where you fit in, realizing the value of old friends, and doing what’s right even when it’s not necessarily what’s popular. Will sums up both the superhero storyline and the underlying themes succinctly by saying: “In the end, my girlfriend became my arch enemy, my arch enemy became my best friend, and my best friend became my girlfriend. But, hey, it's high school.”
The Dark Knight
Basic plot: Picking up where Batman Begins left off, Gotham City seems to be cleaning its criminals off the streets thanks in large part to the efforts of millionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and his vigilante efforts as the Batman. Criminal convictions are further solidified by the police work of Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the law work of Wayne’s long-time love Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her new boyfriend Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Just as the mob and other criminal syndicates are despairing about their future endeavors, a new criminal known only as the Joker (Heath Ledger) arrives on the scene, provoking the others to kill the Batman if they want their troubles to end and also inciting anarchy in general.
I originally saw this movie the weekend it came out, and it was an interesting experience as I was on a beach vacation at the time. Every night we went out on the boardwalk and saw ads that they were going to be showing the movie out on the beach the night it was released. We had all seen the first movie (of the Nolan’s Batman movies, that is) and were excited for the second one. Furthermore, we thought seeing a movie out near the ocean would be fun. But when the night finally came around and we saw the movie, we realized that a movie projected onto a screen on the beach was a better idea in concept than in practice. At first, it was so hard to hear the dialogue over the crashing of the waves. Then those in charge finally figured to increase the volume but by then a fog had rolled in and any brightly lit parts of the film were so intensely bright that it was hard to see. So, all in all, I thought it was a good movie but worth re-seeing as I was obviously missing parts here and there, either audibly or visually. But then – I started having nightmares about the Joker. No exaggeration, these were some crazy hardcore nightmares. I would wake up in the middle of the night in panic and need to look around to assure myself that the Joker wasn’t anywhere near. This was all very odd because I actually found the Scarecrow in the first movie far more terrifying than the Joker while actually watching the movie.
Since we first decided to do a comic book themed movie night, my friend has been saying we really needed to include The Dark Knight to our pile of movies to watch while I was resisting for fear of Joker-induced nightmares again. Finally, I relented and was able to catch some of the finer points I missed out on the first time. And, so far so good - no nightmares about the Joker this time around. Fingers crossed!
In the end, it was also good to re-watch the movie as the newest (and last) movie in the trilogy is scheduled for release in July 2012. While I remembered most of the basic plot of The Dark Knight, I did not remember the crucial detail of the ending being that the Batman was taking the blame and willing to be the one hated so that Gotham City would have the “white knight” hero image in Harvey Dent preserved. Apparently the new movie will pick up eight years after the events of The Dark Knight.
Speaking of the upcoming movie, The Dark Knight Rises, I stumbled upon an article recently that noted Selina Kyle’s comments in the trailer sounded like a 99% person speaking to a 1% person and went on to speculate if the movie was a commentary to some degree on the Occupy Wall Street movement. I can’t find the exact article anymore that I read, but here is another that touches upon the idea and another that talks about Nolan’s aborted plan to include OWS protestors in the film itself. I bring this up in reference to this post because in the original article I read, someone pointed out in the comments section that The Dark Knight also had a social-political commentary about the PATRIOT Act. Once I read that, I recalled immediately the scene in which Bruce Wayne enables Lucius Fox’s cell phone-sonar technology on the entire city and Lucius worries that Wayne has crossed a line.
Wayne: Beautiful, isn't it?
Fox: Beautiful... unethical... dangerous. You've turned every cellphone in Gotham into a microphone.
Wayne: And a high-frequency generator-receiver.
Fox: You took my sonar concept and applied it to every phone in the city. With half the city feeding you sonar, you can image all of Gotham. This is *wrong*.
Wayne: I've gotta find this man, Lucius.
Fox: At what cost?
Wayne: The database is null-key encrypted. It can only be accessed by one person.
Fox: This is too much power for one person.
Wayne: That's why I gave it to you. Only you can use it.
Fox: Spying on 30 million people isn't part of my job description.
In the end, everything works out with Wayne refusing to use this spying technology again, but the negative implications seem to be clear. (Of course, I say “seem to be” because some apparently saw the movie as towing the Bush administration line.) Watching the movie a second time, I picked up more on how the Joker is often referred to by Gordon and the Batman as a terrorist, so it’s not just the one scene with the cell phone that makes the point, even if it is all somewhat understated.
There are also more heavy-handed commentaries on human nature that arise as a result of the Joker’s actions. There’s certainly negatives seen, as in the mass panic the Joker creates with his threats to blow up hospitals and murder people daily unless his ever-changing demands are met. But there are also positives, such as when the ferry hostages come through and refuse to sink to the Joker’s level when given the false choice to become killers or be killed, despite the Joker’s assertion that “You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.”
As I’ve already indicated by quoting from the movie twice, there are some great lines in this movie. There’s both the deep (“The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.” - Harvey Dent) and the funny (“Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands; and your plan, is to *blackmail* this person? Good luck.” – Lucius Fox). And of course, there’s the fabulous last lines from Gordon: “Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So, we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight.” Cue dramatic music here.
Now that I’ve praised the movie, I’d like to point out the couple of issues I had with it. For starters, I found it ridiculous the first time and I still find it ridiculous for there to be such a long scene of the Batman taking out the Joker’s henchman while concurrently fighting off the SWAT team because they haven’t yet realized that the hostages are forced to dress like the clowns and hold guns. Seriously, if Batman was hooked into Lucius at the point, why not just have Lucius radio the intel into Gordon and thus also the SWAT team?? That seems far more productive than everyone getting hurt for no reason. But I guess the creators didn’t want to skimp on the action scenes for that segment of the audience who wants a good fight scene. My second contention was that the rise and fall of Harvey Dent felt rushed. My friend noted it was a “waste of a villain” in Two Face because of how he appears and then disappears again so quickly. Unfortunately, you get the feeling that the creators planned to bring the Joker back for the next movie but that’s obviously no longer probable as no one will want to try to replace Heath Ledger.
Speaking of the cast, there is excellent acting all around, although obviously most especially from Heath Ledger in his last* and legendary role, proving without a doubt that movie viewers were interested in more than just his pretty face. I was glad to see Katie Holmes replaced with Maggie Gyllenhaal. Even though I wouldn’t say this was a fabulous performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal given her other work, it was still a vast improvement from Katie Holmes. (I have to note that even the second time around, I’m surprised by the bold move to kill off Rachel. I recall how the first time, I was convinced it was another ploy like Gordon’s earlier “death” and we would see her re-appear but no.)
While The Dark Knight was nominated for and won plenty of awards, the fact that the Academy didn’t even nominate this movie for best picture is a signal of how the establishment still considers comic book movies to be a film genre like horror or chick flicks that isn’t worthy of critical notice.
* That is if you only count fully completed movies. Ledger was working on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at the time of his death. Luckily, given the weird nature of that movie, his role was able to be completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. And while some said that it was obvious where the movie was tweaked to make this work, I thought it flowed perfectly as though it had been intended to go that way all along. And, although I found that movie odd, I enjoyed it much more than any other Terry Gilliam film.
Watchmen
Basic plot: In an alternate reality 1985, costumed vigilantes have been specifically banned by Congress from fighting crime but that hasn’t helped decrease the terror that people feel as the world powers inch toward nuclear war and total annihilation. Meanwhile, a former costumed hero is murdered, setting off a chain of unalterable events involving the remaining band of past vigilantes.
To start off any conversation about the film version of Watchmen, I have to be fair and note that I absolutely love love love the book Watchmen. And I have to admit that I had been resisting this movie because I knew it would never live up to the book and how wonderful it is. In the end, I have to say that, yes, the movie will never be as great as the book, but it was still pretty good. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised because I was expecting to dislike it, but it was a fairly decent adaptation and I think it was a little extreme for Alan Moore to so completely wash his hands of the movie. (The credits state only that Watchmen was co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons without mention of who the other co-creator was, because Alan Moore really hates derivatives of his work that much).
To get into the specifics, I liked the beginning credits with the montage of rapid scenes showing this alternate reality and the super-brief history of both the Minutemen and the following Watchmen. However, as much as I enjoyed this, I couldn’t help thinking that this – along with a few other parts – would be extremely confusing to anyone who hadn’t read the book. And while a large part of the audience for Watchmen was most likely those who had already read the book, any movie based on a book will also have non-readers in the audience as well and it doesn’t serve anyone to alienate viewers. One notable instance of this was the 2005 film version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. After the 1995 BBC miniseries, the director was probably right to not try and do another very faithful adaptation as that was already done. But when he chose to make the move very arty, he also sacrificed some of the story. I remember watching this movie with a friend who had never read the book or seen the previous film versions, and she was constantly getting confused as to what was going on. Of course, the 18th century social rules and manners probably didn’t help. (It’s always funny to 21st century viewers to see the Bennet sisters in shock and fear that that their bumptious cousin Mr. Collins talks to Mr. Darcy without having first been formally introduced. Oh, the horror!). But from her confusion, I realized that I only knew what was going on because I knew the story of Pride and Prejudice backwards and forwards.
But I diverge, back to Watchmen. Another one of these moments of potential confusion was near the end when we see the newspaper man and the boy who reads the Tales of the Black Freighter comics amongst those about to die in NYC, but the viewer would only recognize these characters if they had read the book as the whole pirates comic parallel story is passed over here. This is not without good reason since the movie is already two and a half hours long and it would never all fit, but that parallel story was one of the things that made the book so amazing. (The director did, however, also make Tales of the Black Freighter as a separate animated movie, although I still haven’t seen this one.) I suppose these characters showing up, however, is more of an Easter egg for loyal Watchmen fans than a moment of confusion for the non-reader.
Among the others things I liked were the musical choices, with lots of good period pieces depending on the scene and the timeframe it was depicting. Speaking of which, the film did a pretty decent job with all the flashbacks. Flashback scenes can be messy and in a movie like this where there’s so much switching back and forth between the present and the past, there’s potential for the viewer to become easily confused. I don’t think that was the case here, although again I already knew what to expect in this regard. Another thing I liked that was even the graffiti seen on the walls of buildings in the book was to some extent included in the movie. Some of the other imagery from the book is also left intact, particularly the iconic smiley face with the drop of blood on it and, to a lesser degree than in the book, the doomsday clock. It really is the little details sometimes.
There was also some really great acting involved in Watchmen. Jackie Earle Haley was good as Rorschach, especially considering that this actor has the tricky task of spending most the movie behind a full face mask and still has to connect with the audience and display emotion somehow. Billy Crudup had similar difficulties because Dr. Manhattan shows little emotion, but he did a good job expressing what he could as the character and he was particularly phenomenal in the flashback scenes before he was turned into a giant blue being with superhuman powers. In fact, I was surprised to find I really liked Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan because I had seen him interviewed on Jon Stewart when the movie was first released and I didn’t get a good feeling from him at that time. At first I didn’t like Patrick Wilson as Dan because I didn’t feel like Dan was that, well, for lack of a better term, dorky. But then when I saw him transformed as he eased right back into his role of Nite Owl, I really, really appreciated this actor above all the others. However, I really wasn’t a fan of Malin Akerman playing Laurie, although I will admit that as Laurie was my favorite character in the book (close second in Dan though, then followed by Rorschach), I had really high expectations for this actor. Although I can’t quite put my finger on it, something about Matthew Goode as Ozymandias kind of irked me, but I guess given that character’s role in the plot, perhaps that was as it should be. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian is great about being the jerk he should be, and that one scene where he cries to his mortal enemy, realizing that man is the closest thing he has to a friend, while also simultaneously laughing that life’s a joke is an amazing piece of work. All the other characters are played just fine, but nothing worth writing home about.
As I’ve already mentioned several times that this was a movie based on a book and that I loved the book, I think it’s worth pointing out some differences between the story in the two mediums.
- Things that specifically stand out to me from the book that didn’t make it into the movie (some of these are small details but I noticed their absence):
1) Dan telling Laurie that everything that is happening in the world makes him feel so impotent. I specifically remember this one because it felt like an overstated metaphor as it comes on the heels of Dan not being able to sexually perform. It was one of the few moments in the book when I felt Moore was a little heavy-handed.
2) Hollis also being found dead at one point, I think further fueling Rorschach’s belief that someone is out to kill costumed heroes. When I was looking up some stuff about the movie online to write this post, I found someone posted on YouTube a deleted scene that shows Hollis Mason’s death and Dan’s reaction to it. While these scenes were pretty brutal, I’m glad to see that at least I remembered correctly. It’s also funny to see that this person comments at the end that if the director was going to make cuts, maybe the long sex scene should have been one of them. (See my comments on that below).
3) Rorschach being caught and the police mocking him because he wears lifts in his shoes to make him seem taller.
4) Rorschach telling the psychiatrist in prison about how he got his mask and the real-life story of Kitty Genovese being a motivator for him becoming a vigilante. I also feel like he talks more about his mother, perhaps about her death, at this point.
5) I remember that when Jon is on Mars thinking about his life and noting how all time is happening for him at the same moment - past, present, future all jumbled together - he remarks about it’s such-and-such date and Janey is leaving him, followed by a line about it’s so-and-so date and Laurie is walking out on him. I remember thinking what a hauntingly sad juxtaposition that was.
6) I feel like in the book Jon takes Laurie with him to Mars to have their whole confrontation sooner, like right after Laurie first moves in with Dan, not after their adventure rescuing people again. I was pretty sure that Laurie went to Antarctica with Dan and Rorschach, not meeting them there later. Maybe it’s a feature of the different ending (see below), but I thought there was more time where they were all sitting around knowing that Ozymandias’s plan was going to happen and not being able to do anything about it, but it hadn’t actually happened yet. In fact, I seem to recall that in their desperation and fear, Laurie and Dan end up randomly having sex (again) somewhere in Ozymandias’s house.
Speaking of Dan, Laurie, and sex, I find it funny that with all that has to be cut, the director decided to leave in a particularly long sex scene with the two of them. It’s certainly not unjustifiable given these characters and their actions in the book, but when you limit the explanation of the Keene Act – a huge deal in the Watchmen universe – to a few brief wordless flashes in the opening credits, maybe you should think about reducing the length of the sex scene instead?
Oh, and Laurie’s costume in the movie is much more ridiculous and objectifying than how she was depicted in the book – and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Check out this great critical article (which includes pictures of the two different costumes) on how Zack Snyder sexually fetishes Laurie in the film I was actually thinking along these lines in the scene when Laurie and Dan first decide to go out adventuring in their costumes again - Dan is downstairs working on Archie when Laurie comes down the stairs in her sexed-up costume and the camera takes a long pan on her walk down the stairs. Hey, Dan isn’t bad looking either and the Nite Owl suit really buffs him up but we don’t get any similar visual for him – and he’s the one that really misses being in the suit and rescuing people. Indeed, his costume is tied to his identity and his sexual potency, so maybe Snyder should really have put the focus on him in that scene instead.
7) Missing are of course the great, ground-breaking, and unique inter-comic text from the book (i.e., Hollis Mason’s autobiography, newspaper clippings, etc.). Obviously this would never work in a filmic fashion but I still miss it. At least Rorschach (via his journal) and Jon still get to narrate some parts.
- Things that happened in the movie that I can’t recall if they actually happened in the book (anyone with a copy of the book handy want to help me out?):
1) Laurie and Dan being attacked in a dark alley by hoodlums (and defeating them) on the way to see Hollis Mason.
2) Rorschach being harassed and threatened in prison by the inmates because he put so many of them there. Specifically, I do not recall him being responsible for a man’s arms being sawn off, which was a particularly gruesome scene. (And for the record, while I am not a medical professional, I highly doubt that if a man’s arms were sawn off, he would immediately fall to the ground dead. I think he would bleed out over time. Look at how many war veteran amputees are out there; obviously instant death isn’t the result of loss of limb. There could possibly be the implication that he merely passed out from the pain and shock, but Rorschach’s “1-0, 2-0” remarks makes it seem like we’re meant to believe that inmate has died.)
I’m of two opinions about this whole Rorshach-is-such-a-badass-even-a-prison-full-of-inmates-out-to-get-him-doesn’t-frighten-him idea. Part of me thinks it’s in line with his character. With the other costumed heroes, we can see how they managed to hang the costume up after the Keene Act and live arguably normal lives to some degree. Rorschach was the only one who could never do this, refusing to ever give up the costume or the vigilantism. (It’s worth pointing out that while the movie doesn’t explicitly say so like the book does, we can kind of tell even here that the costumed heroes all know each other’s identities except that no one knows who Rorschach really is.) We see in these scenes how he is Rorschach, even when you remove the mask. He has so embodied this being that nothing stops him from exacting his form of justice.
But that brings me to my second opinion about these scenes. Rorschach, as we clearly learn from the story about the man who kidnapped a little girl and what Rorschach did to him in return,* doesn’t seem like the kind of vigilante who would let criminals live to see prison. However, he did spend his time in the early Watchmen days as Dan’s partner, and Dan isn’t the kind of guy to ruthlessly exact his own brand of justice, so perhaps it is believable after all.
3) *Another case in point of differences between the book and the movie is that in the movie, Rorschach splits this guy’s skull open in another gruesome scene; in the book, I think Rorschach burned him alive or left him handcuffed for the dogs to eat as “an eye for an eye” punishment. I don’t remember the axe to the head in the book and I think that would have stood out to me more.
4) Speaking of the prison and the attendant gruesome murder scene there, I do not recall either the mass panic at the prison or Laurie and Dan coming to bust Rorschach out of jail in the book. However, I do recall that Rorschach goes to prison and then that later he goes to Antarctica to confront Ozymandias with the others, so he must have gotten out of prison somehow and I can’t remember how else he does.
5) Obviously, the ending is different in the movie but I had been forewarned about that. I think that Jon-is-the-weapon-of-mass-destruction rather than the giant-alien-squid-thing-is-the-weapon-of-mass-destruction change works just fine, although I do feel like it does shake things up a bit. For instance, how did the Comedian find out about this plot? I felt like the ending with Ozymandias’s plans and motivations was rushed over too quickly.
6) Also, at the very end with Dan, Laurie, and her mother, the movie does not acknowledge that costumed heroes are still a no-no in this alternate reality and that Laurie and Dan have to hide their identities as they do in the book’s ending.
There's probably more differences between the book and the movie than the ones I listed here, but it's been several years since I read the book last so I don't remember them all. These are just the ones that particularly stood out to me. In the end, the movie made me nostalgic for the book and I want to read it again now.
I could talk about Watchmen – the book especially but even the movie – forever, but I’ve tripled the amount I wrote about this movie compared to the other three and this post has gone on long enough so I better stop here.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Movies for the Armchair Adventurer
After a friend and I had a themed movie night a while back, we decide it would be good to try another themed movie weekend. This time my friend thought up the theme of movies based on comic books/graphic novels. Once again, we had a long list of possibilities and only made it through a handful of these. Below is the list as well as descriptions/thoughts on the ones we did watch, which are indicated with an asterisk.
(Note: this is by no means an inclusive list of all the movies made based on comic books, just some of the ones we were more interested in seeing.)
(Note: this is by no means an inclusive list of all the movies made based on comic books, just some of the ones we were more interested in seeing.)
Batman (1989)
Batman Begins
Batman Returns
Captain America: The First Avenger
Dick Tracy
The Dark Knight
Hanna*^
The Incredibles*
Iron Man 1 & 2
Persepolis
RED*
Salt^
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World*
Sin City*
The Spirit
Superman Returns
Tales of the Black Freighter
Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles
V for Vendetta
Wanted
Watchmen
X2
X-Men: First Class*
^Okay, you got me, these two aren’t actually based on comic books, but they are action/adventure/sci-fi/practically superheroes so I felt I could add them to the list. Plus they helped to make up for the dearth of female leads in many of the other movies.
RED
Basic plot: When assassins come after retired CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), he’s determined to figure out why he’s suddenly on someone’s hit list. He culls resources from some fellow retiree spies (played by Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren) to get to the bottom of this mystery. Along for the ride is Frank’s brand-new love interest, Sarah (Mary Louise Parker), who has no idea what she’s gotten herself into by befriending the lonely Moses.
Think of just about any Bruce Willis action flick you’ve ever seen and you’ve got down about half the make-up of RED (which incidentally stands for “retired and extremely dangerous”). Bruce Willis is the biggest baddest guy in town with unlimited supplies of ammo, who always manages to stay pretty much unscathed despite an hour and half worth of brutal encounters versus sundry assailants. Fortunately, the other half of the make-up of RED is comic one-liners and scenarios, most often at the hands of Helen Mirren and Mary Louise Parker. They definitely made the movie sparkle, in my opinion. John Malkovich’s paranoid character with his conspiracy theories was also fairly amusing at times. Overall, this is an entertaining escapist film, but don’t expect much more from it than that.
X-Men: First Class
Basic plot: Newly minted professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is sought out by the CIA for his knowledge of genetic mutations and begins using his ability to read minds to become a recruiter of other mutants, including his “sister” Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Erik Lehnsherr, later known as Magneto (Michael Fassbender). The CIA needs this class of mutants to help defeat the nefarious Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and his gang of mutants before they cause World War III.
The X-Men franchise (both the books and movies) are interesting to me, but I’m not hardcore about them. I’ve read a couple of books here and there, and I’ve partially seen some of the prior movies, but I’m certainly no expert on the X-Men universe. There were probably tons of inside references that went over my head in watching this movie. But, I found enjoyable all the same. X-Men: First Class, while having an adventure of its own, is basically an origins movie about how these characters came to be who they are.
Most interesting to me in that respect was the back story for Magneto, who we see first as a child and then later as a comrade of Professor X although the two will later become enemies as anyone with some knowledge of the X-Men universe knows. Michael Fassbender, who is increasingly becoming an actor on my radar for his impressive talent, does an excellent job bringing this character to life. James McAvoy as Professor X is also top-notch, as I was predicting based on his past performances. Everyone else involved in the production play their roles well, but these two particularly stand out above the rest.
Most interesting to me in that respect was the back story for Magneto, who we see first as a child and then later as a comrade of Professor X although the two will later become enemies as anyone with some knowledge of the X-Men universe knows. Michael Fassbender, who is increasingly becoming an actor on my radar for his impressive talent, does an excellent job bringing this character to life. James McAvoy as Professor X is also top-notch, as I was predicting based on his past performances. Everyone else involved in the production play their roles well, but these two particularly stand out above the rest.
I’m always pleased by the X-Men franchise’s themes of evolution and what it means to be human, and this movie was no exception. There was one montage section on the mutants’ training where I didn’t like how the director chose to do sliding boxes of quickly changing scenes, but otherwise this movie was well done all around.
The Incredibles
Basic plot: After some unfortunate events, superheroes are banned from their vigilante work and must make their secret identities their only identities. Some have a harder time than others accepting this, including Mr. Incredible who toils away at an insurance firm while he, his wife, and their three children do their best to hide their secret powers from the world. So when an opportunity arises for Mr. Incredible to use his powers in a clandestine operation, he is more than happy to agree. Little does he know he’s just played himself into an old enemy’s hands and it will take all his powers – and all of his family’s super powers – to survive this latest adventure.
Because it was so late in the evening by the time we started this one, we both ended up falling asleep fairly early on. But I’ve seen this movie numerous times before, and I love it. It has the charm of other Disney-Pixar movies like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., combining adventure, touching moments, kids’ humor, and the occasional adult audience-intended joke. In fact, this is probably one of my favorite Disney-Pixar movies, making it among the cream of the crop. (For the record, it ties with Monsters, Inc., another movie that I just love beyond words.) There are so many wonderful scenes like Helen’s visit to costume designer Edna Mode, when the Incredible family teams up for the first time on the island, or how Jack Jack’s powers become apparent. I could go on, but it’s better if you just watch the movie yourself. :)
And, yes, I realize this one isn't really based on a comic book either, but the superhero theme clearly fits and the movie ended up spawning a comic book series later, so that's good enough for me!
Hanna
Basic plot: In the wilderness of Finland, former CIA asset Erik Heller (Eric Bana) strictly trains his daughter Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) to become an assassin bent on destroying Heller’s former handler Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett). When the time comes for this mission, however, things don’t go quite as planned and Hanna is left crossing countries on her own in an attempt to stay one step ahead of those trying to kill her.
This movie features three excellent actors who all brought their A game to the production. It’s a visually appealing movie, with some very interesting camera work as well as some beautiful scenic places as part of the setting. There are parts when the movie seems a bit slow for an action movie, but when the action does come it is hardcore, including thumping music (provided by The Chemical Brothers) and some funky lighting. (For the latter, you might just have to see it to know what I mean.) While it’s an overall dark movie, there’s some funny moments when Hanna goes out into the world for the first time and is baffled by things like electricity. This is further compounded when she spends some time with a vacationing family, who has some quirks of their own. (The delightful Olivia Williams plays the mother with some unique ideas.)
Beyond its action aspects, the movie also has some science fiction elements. These introduce deeper questions to be explored, although the movie does not do much to tackle this exploration itself. I also enjoyed the visual symbolism (even if it was a bit heavy-handed), such as the prominent ads for glasses and graffiti about CCTV at a time when Erik is being watched and closed in on, Marissa coming out of the big bad wolf’s mouth at the Grimm’s fairy tales amusement park, etc. Without going into any spoilers, I wasn’t thrilled with the very end of the movie, but overall I thought this was a well-done film.
Sin City
Basic plot: Based on some of the Frank Miller’s comics of the same name, this movie contains three distinct plots dealing with the criminal underbelly of Basin City. The first follows the story from The Hard Goodbye where former criminal Marv (Mickey Rourke) loses it after his one-night stand lover Goldie (Jaime King) is murdered while lying next to him and he goes on a spree to find her killer. Meanwhile, with The Big Fat Kill as a basis, Dwight (Clive Owen) and the prostitutes of Old Town have to fend off corrupt cops and the mob from trying to take over. Based on That Yellow Bastard, the final story revolves around honest cop Hartigan (Bruce Willis) and his attempts to keep safe young Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) from the Roark family and their twisted pastimes. (Inexplicably, this last storyline is broken up so that it bookends the movie while the other two are played out one after the other.)
When this movie first came out (which was long before I read the books), I was interested in seeing it based on the cinematography and its stellar cast. For the former, the movie retains some of its comic book feel and is filmed in black and white with spot coloring of red and yellow. For the latter, not only does it include the people listed above but also Brittany Murphy, Alexis Bledel, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, and even a guest appearance from Frank Miller himself.
However, one of the reasons I did not watch this movie when it first came out was that I thought it would be far too violent for me. Having read all the books later, I was even more wary of the potential blood bath, but reading the series also made me more interested to see the movie. Alas, I was right that the movie was pretty much a non-stop violence fest (albeit, the same could be said for the other movies in this post, but this one really upped the ante for gore), although I must say it did not deviate from the books in this respect. However, the black and white filming helped make the violence somewhat more palatable by being able to portray pools of blood in white rather than red – a little trick that helps the mind deal with it better. Still, seeing someone’s hand blown off or head severed is a bit much no matter how you put it, and I think it’s worse in movie form than in stylized illustrations.
Likewise, the movie did not deviate from the books when it came to portraying all the women of Sin City as scantily clad (read barely clothed) or nude, no matter how ridiculous it was for them to be so in the given situation. Again, this is somehow more acceptable in a graphic novel than when dealing with actual breathing, moving people.
To sum up as best as I can, this movie is a truthful adaptation of three books in the Sin City series, a unique work of cinematography, a bloody gory mess, and an interesting puzzle as to how so many big Hollywood names could flock to a fairly shallow movie (the promise of working with Quentin Tarantino?). There’s two more Sin City movies planned based on other books in the series, but I’m not so sure I would check them out…
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Basic plot: After meeting Ramona, the girl of his dreams, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) learns that not only must he try to woo Ramona but he also has to fight – and defeat – her seven evil exes.
After watching a couple of heavy movies there in a row, we decided to lighten things up a little with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. In this fantastical story, imagery is based not only on comic books but also video games. Similar to Sin City, this makes for a unique cinematographic effect. The movie is very funny, although it also gets more than a little absurd at times.
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