Other Space – Broadening The Future Of Internet Television

Other Space – Broadening The Future Of Internet Television

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the changing game of television. In the last few years television has moved from digital to the internet. Viewers can now consume original content online that has never aired on television. The start of this revolution really began with HOUSE OF CARDS. Yes, there were other internet made shows prior to that, but HOUSE OF CARDS came with an A-list budget and talent and with the huge marketing campaign no other internet show has had before. When HOUSE OF CARDS premiered the world took notice. Soon following the success of that launch other shows with A-listers behind them came out as well such as ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK and TRANSPARENT (which was the first internet show to win an Emmy). Now every streaming site has some form of original content from Netflix to Hulu and now Yahoo. Yahoo just recently got into this game in a big way when it picked up COMMUNITY from exile and ordered a season 6 of a show.  Yahoo made this move in hopes that visitors to their site would notice they are now in the content game and would check out the other shows they had to offer. This is very much like when UPN picked up a cancelled BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER from the WB.  I have to say that Yahoos idea worked on me; I visited their site for COMMUNITY and while I was there found my way to another show, OTHER SPACE. This show does not have a huge budget or anything that could even be considered a C-List cast, yet it’s a hidden gem demanding to be found. That is not to say there is not huge talent behind the camera, the show is produced by Paul Feig of BRIDESMAIDS fame.  To me OTHER SPACE maybe one of the more important internet series to date. It is important not because it offers something vastly unique in terms of ideas but for the fact that it seems we have now reached the next phase in this type or content. Straight-To-Internet series are starting to reach a point where even the little guys can start to be noticed.  Programs like OTHER SPACE are being made today and put out there and viewers watch them expecting quality and not some cheap imitation of television anymore. 

OTHER SPACE is first and foremost a funny show. The type of humor it presents is very off-beat and yet oddly familiar. OTHER SPACE in essence follows not a group of finely tuned Astronauts into space  but instead imagines what STAR TREK would have been like if the Starship was manned by off-beat weirdo’s you would more likely find working at a big box store.  The crew of the ship consists of Captain Stewart Lipinski (Karan Soni), his sister Karen Lipinski (Bess Rous), his childhood babysitter/friend Michael Newman (Eugene Cordero), unrequited love interest Tina Shukshin (Milana Vayntrub), oddball Kent Woolworth (Neil Casey), and not quite all there engineer Zalian Fletcher (Joel Hodgson). Along for the ride with the humans is resident wise cracking robot ART (Trace Beaulieu) and the girly mainframe interface Natasha (Connor Leslie).  The premise of the show is that on the first day aboard the ship, the crew accidently goes through a wormhole and ends up in unknown part space (Other Space) without anyone or anything else but each other.  The pilot does a good job setting up the different dynamics that will be used throughout the run of the first season. Karen is jealous her brother Stewart was made captain, Michael is mad he was not made first officer by his friend, Stewart loves Tina but she has a current boyfriend on earth, Tina misses said boyfriend and is obsessed with him, Kent is the son of their boss, Natasha used to be the mainframe for casinos, Zalian has lost a few marbles through all his trips in space and spends all his time with his wise cracking best friend robot ART. That is a lot to digest and set up in the initial pilot which is what makes it the weakest episode in the batch. However, even with all the world building the show asks of its actors, they pull it off.  Throughout the run of the show, the characters become more defined and the situations get out of hand, and yet the feel of the show remains grounded due to the fact that all these characters feel relatable.  The beauty of the show is it makes you wonder what would happen if just you and your buddies ended up in space and were not the best under pressure.

I decided to keep this blog entry short to keep must of the surprises the how has to offer secret.  I will state the show has a fun time using science fiction tropes to mine humor for a comedy very much in the vein of FUTURAMA.  If you find the idea of a rouge coffee maker taking over a ship in a robot uprising spewing painful coffee puns amusing then this is the show for you. Along the way the show will tackle time disparities, ship malfunctions, aliens, etc. to mine stories from. In addition, the character that jumps out quickly above the rest is the wise cracking robot ART who is by Trace Beaulieu of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER fame.  However, over time every character gets their time to shine and by episode 3 this show and cast are really jelling and giving the viewer a fun time.

Overall I think this show represents the future of internet streaming original shows. It proves even without the biggest budget a company can produce content that is still vastly superior to most comedies on television.  It won’t be too long before people start checking out new shows for these sites on a regular basis much like television. To conclude I went to Yahoo for COMMUNITY but ended up enjoying OTHER SPACE way more. 

The State Of TV News

The State of TV News

I started this blog over a year ago to have a place where I write down my thoughts on different aspects of the entertainment industry. I figured that since I enjoy a lot of the content that the industry has to offer that it would be nice to share my opinions of these things with others. One aspect I have to write about but which I am very passionate of is all the way news can be found on television. I am a person who loves to devour all forms of news; I read countless websites, blogs, and watch as many of the news channels as possible.  As much is the case with anymore, my appetite for news has only grown as I have gotten older. As one tends to age, one tends to care more about what is actually going on around the world.  As each year passes however I have found that the majority of what is labeled as “news” is anything but.  This is not a new thought I have come to but one that I have had for a while. The spark that finally got me to sit down and write about this topic began in the least likely of places, a conversation I had with my dad on Facebook.

Trough Facebook I learned that my father and also my mom were angry with NBC that Brian Williams had been suspended and most likely fired for his exaggerated claims of riding in a helicopter that he had claimed was fired upon. My parents were disgusted not with what Brian Williams had stated but by the network for suspending him and no longer allow him to read the news every night at 6:30pm.  I believe that the feelings they have resonate a lot with the older generation while mostly younger folks do not care. To people of a certain era, the job that Brian Williams had was something to be proud of, something for journalists to esteem to be. Brian Williams was the face of news that once housed such greats as Edward R. Murrow and Tom Brokaw. Tom Brokaw and Edward R. Murrow are considered great men because they anchored these types of shows back when they were needed. Prior to the internet and cable, truly the only way one heard about anything outside of the Newspaper where shows such as these. These shows were important and critical. So to the older generation, this job still holds a high place with them. Who cares if Brian Williams exaggerated a little, he was still dam good at his job at delivering the news. I think that is were the split in my opinion comes with my parents. They look at a man and saw someone they could trust to deliver the news. When I look at Brian Williams I just see a liar who was good at reading the “news”. I never thought the type of news he reported was that critical and I didn't even think his job was that difficult. To be honest, I barely have ever watched a single second of “The Nightly News With Brian Williams”.  The split in thought is not shocking when you consider what I grew up with vs. my parents. My parents grew up with Nightly News being important where as I grew up with the 24 hours news networks. The amusing thing though, is that while the invention of the non-stop news channels regulated these Network Nightly Telecasts to become relics they were also what I feel drove the end of news as we know it.

The idea 24 hours a day in a perfect word is one out-standing idea; there is so much important things going on that it would be nice to know about them all. The issue becomes that in a world where money is king above all us, there was never a chance that these types of channels would live up to high ideals. I know that the previous statement sounds like it comes from the mind of a cynic but all one has to do is turn on any of these networks to see the issue. I do not pretend to know the original intent or the mission statements of channels such as CNN, MSNBC, of FOX; all I know is what I have seen since I began to consume such content.  As the world has become more global and inter-connected the amount of stories that are important to Americans have also grown. What happens in India these days now has an impact on the United States. With the whole world as its oyster these types of channels should be over-loaded with around the clock news of every kind. In reality, these channels have delivered anything but. On a regular basis these channels are filled with either political issues, political candidates, political maneuvers, or the recent “story of the moment” i.e. riots, planes disappearing, train crashes, etc.  I do not want to belittle any of these aforementioned topics; what goes on in Washington D.C. and travesties are news and need to be known, but there is so much more to life then these things. A few hours at most a day could cover all these topics; instead we get the same conversation for weeks on end. Every topic is discussed non-stop with panels and talking heads until they all become redundant. 

The question one must wonder is why do all the stations essentially build around the same content.  The answer is quite obvious and goes back to what I previously stated; it all comes down to money. More specifically, it all comes down to the ratings which drives the money. That issue was always going to be a barrier to why these networks do not always strive to be the best. These channels deliver what people know and not what they need to know. These channels all do the same thing but with different political spins.  I am not against a company trying to turn a profit I just feel that a certain moral compass should also be part of a new network. Now of course, not everything and everyone on these networks try and pander to the lowest common denominator. Some of these anchors make valid points about the news of the day and I in fact do learn something. Yet, for as good as some of these anchors can be, they are still tied to the same issue of limited scope. These channels should talk more about whats going on in the world, or they should have become what newspapers used to be. These channels have so much money at their disposal it would be nice to see some hard hitting investigative reports that go beyond the  scope.   

When networks such as these do go outside these lines, such as CNN doing world news at 12am at night they end up lost in the shuffle.  These networks need to fill so many hours on so little time there were almost always destined to just become opinion networks for consumers with similar agendas. At the end of the day, some of these networks have just become the mouth pieces for political parties. If you want to deny global warming just watch Fox News.  If you want to believe all Republicans are evil and Democrats are awesome watch MSNBC.  If you have no political agenda and want to just know what the latest human interest story and see it played to death go to CNN. Thank god for CNN or I would still think a Worm Hole is what caused the Malaysian Airplane to vanish. The fact I can write that sentence shows the sadness of CNN; the station that started the 24 hour craze. 

With the lightness that has become these channels the question becomes is there a real place to find substantive news on television. The answer to that question is yes. When it comes to hard-hitting news, the places I found it these last few years are at Comedy Central and HBO.  Other anchors and networks still mock and like to pretend that what goes on at Comedy Central is still “fake” news but for the educated people, we know otherwise. What John Stewart was able to do at Comedy Central was nothing if not amazing. John Stewart looked at these 24-hours networks and saw the same redundancy I just discussed, and then, he called them on it. John Stewart looked at what Politicians would say, and then attacked them for hypocrisy.  John Stewart shined a light on our fundamentally flawed system, and did it all under the guise of humor. Thanks to Mr. Stewart we later got Stephen Colbert and finally Larry Wilmore. They all do/did basically the same thing but with their own respective styles. Some of my favorite moments among all 3 shows was Stephen Colbert’s “Get To Know Your Congressman”. The segment was simply Stephen interviewing a random congressman from one of our 50 states. What was eye-opening about the whole process was that as Stephen interviews them you realize these elected officials may not have a lot going on upstairs. Those are some of the scary yet funny truths you learned through these types of shows on Comedy Central. m.

Those programs on Comedy Central got the ball rolling in terms of delivering substantive news, and then HBO took it one step further. With the burden of being a daily program on Comedy Central, these shows mostly dealt with the hypocrisy that existed within the United States. These shows were once a day and with a specific time restraint and therefore there was not enough lead time to investigate even more full-fledged stories. That is why today, for my money the best news on these days are “John Oliver” and “Vice” on HBO. “John Oliver” is a comedy show with a tone like “The Daily Show” but being only once a week it can deliver stories of which I have never seen. John Oliver goes beyond just the United States and takes you around the world and truly shows you crazy/scary the rest of the world can be. Is the show funny, yes, but is it also informative, yes. In addition to giving a recap of the week, John Oliver will spend countless minutes each week on a single topic.  Each week he delivers an insane piece on any topic that meets his fancy and dive on in.   For a great example of this, look no further then when he did a 20 minute peace on the state of America’s bridges. He went into great detail about how America barely has anyone in place to make sure all our bridges are in good working order, consider that the majority of these are decades/centuries old. He goes on to show that the reason that sustaining America’s foundation has become a little discussed topic in Washington is not due to the lack of danger, but the lack of election appeal that this sort of issue has with America and therefore politicians. Think about how we only here about the poor foundation of bridges when a bridge collapses and kills an innocent person. When this happens, the 24 hours news channels will report on this, people will be angry by this, and then in a day we all forget and nothing changes.  I have to say, before I watched John Oliver discuss this topic in detail I never cared about it either, but now I do. This is an important issue and the only place I could ever have heard about it came from a self-proclaimed satire show.

“John Oliver” is not the only show on HBO that is making waves as the new face of news, the other would be “Vice”. “Vice” is not a funny show (although it can be) but it shines a light on some of the most important news of our generation. In the last 2 months I have discovered this program I learned so much: Iran is the world leader in transgender operations, deporting illegal immigrants out of cities are destroying farms and communities, our blood cells have become more resistant to antibiotic drugs and yet we are evaporating the forests where we could discover something better, poor women in India are being using as surrogates for Westerners, , to funny little side stories like how in China white people are seen as the sexy source of advertising.  These stories are hard hitting and with no political agenda. I have watched these fearless reporters embed themselves with drug lords and ride dangerously on top of trains with immigrants to get their story and bring it to people’s attention. This is not fun news, but it is real news. For instance, without this show I would have no idea what Palm Oil is. You may ask yourself, what is Palm Oil and why should I care. The answer is Palm Oil is in almost all the products we buy at grocery stores, Palm Oil comes from the forests we are destroying in Indonesia which has displaced multiple communities. Those forests in Indonesia we destroy for Palm Oil also contained the plants we need for future medicine if we wish to survive as a people. Everything is all connected. Yet, without “Vice” I would have no clue about any of this.  Hearing about dying communities and forests is not sexy but it is something we need to know.

There is no easy answer to how to fix news back here in the states. I do not know how it started but today news is mostly a  game, politics has become a game, and each player uses the other to better themselves. To circle back to the original thought that got me started on this topic in the first place, I do not care about Brian Williams being fired. He is part of a system that is long past its end-date. For me there are other sources of news that I find to be more important. One hopes that as those shows grow in popularity, other people take notice and real change happens. Wouldn't

it be great if people actually did care about bridge maintenance and therefore politicians had to care? 

DC OWNS THE TELEVISION UNIVERSE

DC OWNS THE TELEVISION UNIVERSE

Much like everyone else I had been waiting for what seemed like forever to see the first trailer for “Batman vs. Superman” ever since WB announced the slate of films they were going to release a year ago. I was truly excited to get that first glimpse of the film that would be the launching pad for the DC Movie Universe. From my earliest memories I have been a fan of everything DC related; when it comes to the comic book wars of DC vs. Marvel clearly I picked a side. My passion for DC does not make me hate what Marvel delivers; in fact I have enjoyed “AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D” on television and the spin-off “Agent Carter”.  When it comes to the 11 Marvel movies, each one has been a joy to watch. For my money, the one-two punch of “Captain America 2” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” were amazing last year. At the end of the day however, I have never read the Marvel comics and therefore I didn’t grow up with all these characters; making my personal attachment to them lacking. I have first and foremost always been a Superman fan and that is why I have devoured DC content on a higher level. The most exciting comics I have read are DC, my favorite animated shows growing up were “The New Adventures of Superman and Batman” followed by “The Justice League” and “Batman Beyond”. All of these comic book movies have been coming out over the last decade but I still place the Tim Burton Batman movies and the first two Christopher Reeve Superman movies higher than almost all of them. As you can tell I am clearly on the side of DC.

With all that said, I know that there is a high chance that everything film-related that DC is about to put starting next year has a good chance of not living up to mine (and everyone else’s) rather large expectations.  For the most part I enjoyed “Man Of Steel” and I believe that I will enjoy watching the new films coming out, but I have a sinking feeling that they may not match the quality of the recent slate of Marvel films. From listening to friends to reading topic boards on this subject I find the majority of opinions seem to fall in line with my own. As each new trailer and set pictures are discussed with people trying to find something else out about these movies that are pointing towards disaster, I came to a single thought about it all; “who cares!”.  Who cares how these movies turn out, because as of right now, the Television side of DC is just kicking ass. If these movies come out and stink I can still enjoy the world of DC and its trade mark characters on the small screen.

DC delivering well done shows on television is not a new phenomenon; they have been doing this for quite a while. I mentioned earlier the high quality animated shows that DC gave us in the 1990’s and then that was followed by a decade of “Smallville”. “Smallville” was not a perfect program but it did deliver great episodes and nods to the greater universe. At the end of the day the show was a welcome way to be involved with the Superman character on a weekly basis and for me will always be part of my Superman lore. However, it was once that show finally said goodbye that I think DC went into its first great wave of live television programs that exist today and they are doing things that fans had only dreamed about before. In contrast to when “Smallville” was airing all by itself on an island, DC has gone and started creating a universe on television that is beginning to match the shared universe that exists for the Marvel Movies. Much as Marvel used the success of “Iron Man” to build a cinematic universe, DC has used the small screen success of “Arrow” to do the same.

“Arrow” was not supposed to be great, it was supposed to stink. I initially didn’t even want to watch the pilot. First they hired Greg Berlanti to produce the show and that made me hesitant.  This is the writer/producer, who while making some great shows that I have enjoyed, has tended to be more melo-dramatic than heroic, shows such as the excellent “Eli Stone”, “Jack & Bobby”, and “Brothers & Sisters”. Then once you tack on the two stabs he had with the superhero universe you have the underwhelming “Green Lantern” movie and the very poor “No Ordinary Family” television show.  So right from the start I was skeptical of the whole idea. Then as they announced the show you find out it will just be called “Arrow” and not “Green Arrow”, well then, this self-proclaimed geek was ready to never watch. However, I did watch the pilot- I had to- this was a superhero show and dammit I had to give it a chance. While the pilot had some promise I was not instantly taken with it. I didn’t even really enjoy the first few episodes, I enjoyed moments of them. Those few great moments is why I stuck it out and kept going. Slowly, however I noticed the great chemistry that started to build between Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, and Emily Bett Rickards and you can see what would become the core Arrow team form. As the season moved on the action improved, flawed and one-note characters like Thea and Moira Queen began to shine and find direction. I think I truly became a huge fan right before the Christmas break when the Arrow finally met his match in the Dark Archer played to perfection by John Barrowman. The show ended its winter run with an excellent fight that left our hero bruised physically and mentally and with that they had cemented me as a fan.

The show only got better from there and everyone knows how season 2 kicked this thing into high gear with Slade Wilson, played by the excellent “Spartacus” alum Manu Bennett. To me, I was just happy to have an awesome weekly superhero show on and didn’t think of anything else. The brain trust at DC thought otherwise. The people at DC saw what they had and decided to try and expand this universe and introduced us all to The Flash played by charismatic actor Grant Gustin. With the Flash having superpowers, that show was allowed to take this universe into more comic book territory and the producers went full steam ahead with it. In one season we have already had talking gorillas, the introduction of Firestorm, and time travel. Once again, I was happy that I now had two shows to watch every week and then DC went and changed the game once more. Next year we are getting one more show on the schedule, “Legends of Tomorrow” headlined by a very well-cast Brandon Routh as the Atom, who was introduced organically into the universe on “Arrow”.  This show will expand the world by not just adding in time travel as part of the story, but it’s the crux of the whole thing. I am already eager with anticipation to see where this all goes. If all the shows airing or soon to air on CW weren't enough, next year will also give us “Supergirl” on CBS. The great part about this is CW is owned by CBS and ‘Supergirl” will have the same producers as all the other programs. With all that part of the equation I really feel that at some point Supergirl will find her way over to the CW for an episode as she teams up with Arrow, The Flash, and The Atom. If I am thinking about this awesome potential for world-building I am sure the producers are as well.

So yes, right now DC is a little bit of a mess when it comes to the movies- but what is being done on television right now with lesser known characters, and with much smaller budgets, is quite astonishing. If the movies are good that’d be fantastic… but if not, who cares I say, we have the television universe to keep us happy. 

Rediscovering the Fun of Wrestling – A Trip To Summerslam

Rediscovering the Fun of Wrestling – A Trip To Summerslam

I use this blog to talk about any form of entertainment I deem worthy to write about. Usually I will discuss movies, televison, and books; but sometimes other forms of entertainment will come along and I decide that they just need to be written about.  With that said, yesterday I went down to Staples Center to watch WWE’s 2014 Summerslam.  I am no longer a casual viewer of wrestling, in fact the last time I watched anything in this forum was 3 years ago when I went to my last Summerslam. Outside of attending these 2 live events my knowledge of this world all lies within my time as an avid viewer from my early childhood to the early 2000’s. I grew up watching the WWE with my father and brothers as we all cheered for our favorites (my brothers and I will always have a soft spot for the Repo Man) and were devastated when they lost.  We live in a world where we all know wrestling is fake in terms of its outcome but as children no one knew better. I do not remember why I stopped watching, it may be due to going off to college- I just did not have time to spare to watch 3+ hours of television on wrestling anymore and I just never picked up on it again. I wonder sometimes though if the WWE still has the ability to deliver the type of shows I remember. The type that involved throwing grown men off steel cages, being shocked when Hulk Hogan turned heel, or having a character’s catch phrase just unite a crowd because “Stone Cold Said So”. As a man in television ratings I know the WWE is still popular but my question was- is it good? What I found out Sunday was that while the WWE may not be able to deliver 100% the goods I think it is capable of,  it can still get very close.

Let me begin with what I think the WWE is doing that is very wrong and needs to be fixed before they lose people. At the start of the show last night the crowd went wild with a surprise appearance of the Hulk Hogan. This man is legendary and his popularity exists way beyond the realm of wrestling. Why was he here, everyone wondered; would this man be involved in a match in some way? Would Hulk Hogan maybe be the special guest referee in a flag match between America and Russia? The answers to these questions were a resounding “No”. As it turns out Hulk Hogan was there to just spread the word that the WWE Network was only $9.99 a month. This information was something everyone in the audience already knew so I am not sure who he was pitching this.  On top of that Hulk Hogan never even entered the ring. He just walked out, pitched the network, and went away. This was a very much wasted opportunity for the company. For a company to be so successful it always boggles my mind when such poor decisions are made.  

Let me get to what I think really impressed me now.  I knew absolutely nothing going into last night except that Chris Jericho was going to wrestle. Chris Jericho, for those who do not know, has been in the game for 15 years and was at the top when I was still watching. He is one of the few people I still know  and am amazed their bodies allow them to take this type of damage for so long. Remember the outcomes are fake, but not the physical damage the guys sustain. The producers of the show did a great job setting up every match with the right amount of clips to even engage someone who never watches wrestling into the match they are about to see.  This concept really worked and made the show that much more fun. 

Outside of set-ups, the WWE knows just how to deliver the fun and is never afraid to go for it. In the course of 3 hours I watched Stephanie McMahon (one of the owners of WWE) get manhandled in the ring, to fights that left the ring and went right into the audience, to hearing the Russian national anthem as the is flag was raised.  To me, one of the greater moments that prove the WWE still has 'It' was the flag match. This was a contest between All American Jack Swagger vs. Russian and Vladimir Putin lover Rusev.  Whoever won this match would get to see their countries flag raised in their honor. This was old school WWE, harking back to the days when one of the biggest villains around was the Iron Sheik.  Creating a Russian wrestler is just a stroke of genius. Here is a guy that instantly will unite any crowd against him and get your blood pumping. That’s the point of entertainment. A even bigger stroke of genius by the WWE was to have the Russian win. Never in a million years did I think the WWE would let the Russian win, especially with what is actually going on in the real world. Yet, now they have set up future stories with this character and when his eventual demise comes, the fans will be that much happier. That type of long form planning is what keeps a company successful that has been around for decades.

The second biggest surprise of the show was that John Cena (the man all over cereal boxes and USA promos) lost his championship belt to a hulk of a man by the name of Brock Lesner. I know from my friends and from his short feud with the Rock that Cena is in fact not well liked by adults but adored  by kids. This is quite obvious when hearing all the kids in the stadium scream “Let’s Go Cena” which is replied to with adults yelling “Cena Sucks”. It is not the fact that Cena lost that caught me off guard, but how it went down. The match lasted about 20 minutes and for 20 minutes I watched Brock Lesener just throw Cena around the ring. This was a one sided contest the minute the bell rung.  This is surprising for a couple of reasons: I was sure with such domination taking place that Cena was going to win in the end somehow, and that Cena played such a good company man allowing himself to look very week. The fact that Cena lost shows that the WWE always likes to keep its fans guessing. This match also showed me the passion that this company can have on so many. All the anti-Cena fans were screaming with such joy when he lost while all his young fans had faces of utter disbelief. It truly looked to me like  they just heard Santa Claus is not real.  The ability of any form of entertainment whether it be books, movies, or  television is for its viewers to buy into what it is trying to sell and be entertained, that is something the WWE does so well. I forgot after so long what it's like being around other wrestling fans rooting for something that we all know is fake but couldn't care less.

Some people will continue to write of wrestling as trashy, fake and not worth consideration. What wrestling truly is though, when done right like last night, is expert story telling. Is it any different rooting for Brock Lesner to beat John Cena then it is to root for “The Guardians of The Galaxy”? I assume everyone knows a talking raccoon and tree are not real. Also, wrestling today is all around us whether people like to admit or not. We have the Rock starring in action movies, John Cena constantly appears in television, and now everyone’s favorite new literal good guy Drax is played by former wrestler Batista.  Wrestling may not be art, but it's damn fun entertainment.  

A Pair Of B+ Summer Action Movies

“Purge Anarchy” & “Snowpiercer”  - A Night For B+ Solid Action

“Purge Anarchy” is a movie that takes place during the one night of the year in which America all kinds of crimes are legal, including murder. “Snowpiercer” is a film that is set in the near future where the last surviving humans live on a never-ending train to stay alive and keep warm while outside the earth is in a new ice age. In the “Purge” we follow some unlucky citizens who are caught outside and fight to out-live the night while in “Snowpiercer” we watch as the citizens regulated in the poor tail section the train fight to get the upper hand against the lucky people who live in the fancy front section. It seems then that these two films have nothing in common; however I would say there is one small fact that links them both, corruption by the rich. In both movies are protagonists are poor people who due to the machinations of the rich are kept in place by laws and rules they do not control. During both movies we root for our heroes to finally get the upper hand and change the status quo.  “Snowpiercer” is more of a thoughtful look at this issue while “Purge” is more of an absurd take. At the end of the day for different reasons I found both of these films to be solid B+ action movies full of entertainment. That is why I decided to review them within the same post.

Purge Anarchy

Let me begin by stating this movie takes the kernel of a promising idea from the first movie and expands that into some amazing entertainment.  The plot of this film centers around a lone man who is known only as Sergeant (an excellent Frank Grillo) who wants to use this lawless night as a way to get revenge on a man who killed his son while he was driving while drunk. Along the way to seek his revenge Sergeant cannot stop himself from helping four helpless souls (a mother and her daughter and a bickering married couple) from getting killed as they all found themselves without shelter during the purge.  There is not much more to this plot and really for a movie like this there shouldn’t be. People such as me went into this movie just to see chaos rain throughout the purge and that’s what this film delivered where the first film failed.

Throughout the movie we see snipers taking out un-suspecting people on the streets, rich families paying poor people to sacrifice themselves for the purge, while other high society minded folk’s auction off people to kill in a “Running Man” type arena. Sure we see our protagonist’s band together and get through this ordeal and dialogue was also spoken but I just didn’t care. The only noteworthy performance was that of Frank Grillo as his Sergeant was the perfect badass hero we all love. Frank Grillo played his Sergeant with such gravitas he earned himself a new fan and I hope to see him in more future action roles.  

What I loved was the mindless violence of this movie and the sheer lunacy that in some alternate universe a night like this could even happen. The whole idea behind the purge is ludicrous as is the fact that for some reason the American people elected “New Founding Fathers” to the United States.  I mean, what the hell is a “New Founding Father?”  I also enjoyed all the background aspects of this movie that’s sheer purpose was to open doors  for future films in the franchise. We discovered in this movie that the American government is using this night to go out and murder poor people to help keep that population dwindling and at bay. By murdering innocent poor people, the government gets to state poverty is down since the annual Purge has begun. That type of idea just goes to show the absurdness of this movie. This film went for broke and we all benefitted.  

*On a side note the young married couple both deserved to die because if you are not locked in a house hours before the purge begins you are asking for death. The silliest aspect of the movie is that in the 6^th year of the purge people are still walking around outside hours before murder becomes legal. I am sorry but if this was a real occurrence I would be camping out in my house all day with the supplies I bought a whole night before.

Snowpiercer

Here is a movie that is truly coherent and full of thought provoking messages. This is extraordinary since the plot is truly absurd.  In this movie we learn that a new man made ice age has been going on for 18 years and the last few survivors all live on a train that never stops and travels the earth every year. At the front of the train are the former rich class and the further back you go on the train, the poorer its occupants are.  Our hero’s all live in the tail end of the train and their daily lives are a living hell.  These tail end citizens pretty much live in what seems like a Jewish Death Camp. Every day they are given rations of what is called a “protein bar”, they have no windows, they all sleep on stacked beds, they are murdered when the train’s population gets too big, and their children are taken forcefully from them for reasons unknown.  

The leader of this poor group is Gilliam (John Hurt) who is slowly ceding control to his second hand man Curtis (Chris Evans).  Over the course of the movie we see Curtis rally his people as they try and move through the train and eventually take over the control room at the frontoperated by the mysterious inventor Wilford.  The brilliance and beauty of this movie is seeing all the fun and different types of train cars that exist and that are used to keep the train operational. Of course the overall message of this movie is told to us by Mason (Tilda Swinton) a government employee. While she is held prisoner by Curtis she explains that while life may not seem fair to the people in the tail end, it is what is needed to keep society going; basically society needs balance to function.   Of course Curtis declares “that is easy to say when you were dealt a good life at the front”.

This movie just has so much going for it. From the amazing performances, to watching all the interesting ways the action was shot when confined to small train cars. To me the movie is worth it just for the scene that takes place in one of the classrooms. Here we see just how kids who were born in the front are taught about their society and the great Wilford and why those in the back are to be looked down upon. This scene is just wall-to-wall crazy.  

The reason I gave this movie a B+ is because even with its thoughtful message on how societies are built to be unfair, the movie does not go further.  I went in not really caring to learn more about the world this train takes place in. I just accepted that the last few humans live together in this society and that it is corrupt. However, the film could have been an A with a little more world building and answering questions. It would have been cool to see how people got on the train in the first place, or was there a chance Wilford could have helped cause this ice disaster.  Who chose the people who got to be on the train, were all world leaders barred from this miracle?  Also, I know the people at the front of the train are rich and well taken care over, but surely they all cannot just be mindless assholes; someone most kind of care that they treat others as slaves.

In the end this was a fun ride and Chris Evans once again nails another performance.  

The Leftovers - Don't Give Up On This Show!

The Leftovers – Don’t Give Up On This Show!!!!

Here we sit halfway through the first season of this new HBO show and I have decided that I am all in for the long haul. For the uninitiated this show takes place 3 years after the sudden vanishing of 2% of the earth’s population. I know I am in the minority for deciding to stick with this show as many people have decided to quit this program while many more never even gave it a chance. Just yesterday a whole article on the EW website was about why that author was no longer going to view this program; this shows you what I am up against with my views. My own wife just the other day declared “no more!” to "The Leftovers" meaning I now have to find time on my own to watch this show, a tough but not impossible task. Yet, I will find the time as I think this program is worth it. There are countless reasons people have decided to jump ship and I will attempt to discuss each of those points throughout the rest of this post.

Let me start with one of the biggest gripes I have heard so far, “Why do we have to follow the Garvey family, they didn't even lost anyone in the departure”? I believe the fact that this family did not lose anyone from their immediate family is exactly why they should be the main focal point of the show. Yes, it would be easy to follow someone like Nora who lost both of her kids and husband in the departure because she is someone the audience can instantly sympathize with. We would all say to ourselves, “Who cares what she does, its justified, she lost her entire world”. Yet, when you think about it, wouldn't we as an audience actually be able to relate to a family more like the Garvey’s. Only 2% of the population vanished making it a good chance that in this situation most people may not have lost anyone in this event, but in the end everyone on earth was affected one way or another.  How could anyone go on living in a world when at any moment now someone could just vanish? That fear alone would make us all question ourselves and the world around us; nothing would be the same anymore. I have gathered must people have no issue with the father Kevin Garvey (he seems to be doing his best keeping the town safe and his family intact) or his daughter Jill (she is moody but we get that since she is a teenager and her mom just joined the town cult) so I will spend my time on the two most hated members of this family unit. Let us start with Tommy Garvey who even annoys me and seems like an idiot for following the “Cult of Wayne” but I understand it.  Here is a kid who was abandoned by his biological father at an early age, he grew up with a mom who suffered from depression, and he then witnessed college kids committing suicide after the departure. This is a kid without a tether who went looking for any meaning in this new world. It sucks that he found his answers and put his trust in what seems to be a creepy guy who is having sex with underage girls; but Wayne seems to be offering relief to people around him.  Then there is of course the mom Laurie Garvey. From the very first episode she has not been a fan favorite.  She was always going to be a tough character to like from the fact she abandoned her family to join the “Guilty Remnant” cult; a cult that is so infuriating I will write more on them next. We learn in the first episode she left her family and she didn’t even “lose” anyone when the world vanished.   I don’t understand why the audience would need her to lose someone to be affected by this event.  There are countless reasons why she may have snapped after the vanishing. First we learned she has always been prone to depression before the world changing event, second the father of her first child left them (maybe even beat her), and finally her current good husband Kevin cheated on her. When you add all these facts up, one can see how the certainty of what the Guilty Remnant believe could be enticing to her. She is a very flawed woman, but won’t that make her journey hopefully to redemption throughout the series that much more gratifying.  There was a moment at the end of episode 5 where you finally thought she was coming to her senses and getting ready to re-join the world, that if she had, man, everyone would have cheered. The fact that she remained with the cult was sad; yet the show worked, I was feeling for her as a character on television.  When one looks at all the facts it is easy to see why following this family makes sense.

I will now tackle one of the most talked about and hated aspects of this show, “The Guilty Remnant”, The chain smoking, stalking, and quiet cult members that infuriate the towns citizens and viewers all across the world.  I hate everything about this cult too, and I am supposed to feel that way. There is something that just stirs up so much hate as smug assholes who wear nothing but white stalk families who lost a loved while at the same time smoke cigarettes.  Every time they appear on screen I just want to punch one. The thing is, I am pretty sure the writers want us to feel that way so that we can understand why everyone on the show hates them too. The audience and the characters on the show each feel the same hatred and therefore we can relate to one another and understand.  Viewers have questioned why the members of this cult would want to subject people to such sadness and make them remember what they are trying so hard to forget and move on from. Perhaps the “Guilty Remnant” do not want people to move on like we as a society have done many times.  Countless times major tragedies have happened to the United States; the moment after that the world is united; a few months later the world has moved on. Try and remember all the cars that sported American Flags after 9/11; now try and think of the last time you saw one.  The difference between past real tragedies and the one in the show is that in the real world, we know what and who caused the bombing of buildings and planes. We have bad guys we can capture and hold accountable for their crimes and help us move on. Yet, in this show 2% of the world has vanished and no one knows why it happened and who did it. This is not something you should just forget. This act should transform everything you ever believed and turn your world upside down. Are there better ways to make people remember then what the cult does; of course, but they do what they think needs to be done. I hate them but I understand them.  The real brilliance is I hate them so much that I actively cheered when one of them was stoned to death in a previous episode. I saw this as an act of catharsis and I was just watching a show. These maybe the least sympathetic character's to ever grace a television screen. 

Another thing I have heard is that the show “is too depressing”, “moves to slow” and “I don’t know where the story is going”. I like the fact that all of these issues are true.  This may be the most depressing show HBO has ever done and they once had a show centered on nothing but death.  I would expect this show to be sad, a horrible act happened that offers no closure and no hope.  This is how I fully expect a town to react when everything from normalcy to religious faith has now been questioned. Every day you walk the earth in this universe you will always ponder "why did that person vanish", "why didn't I vanish", "who took them", and "will they ever come back".  Secondly, I know the show can be a bit slow but I am invested in that slowness. This allows each scene to be played out and allow the drama to percolate the whole hour. I never know what could happen at any second and that leaves me on the edge of my seat.  Finally, some have found this show aimless as so far none of the big questions are even discussed about the departure or the larger meaning behind it.  I believe at some point the show will get around to answering the big questions questions but in the meantime I sit and wait for the answers the same way these characters are also stuck in purgatory unable to move on from the departure because they still don’t understand it. That in essence is the brilliance of the show, the viewers and characters are in this journey together. What was frustrating with a show like “Lost” was someone always had the answers but just refused to tell us, here, no one knows anything and we are on this journey together.

The biggest thing going for the show is its unpredictable and strangeness.  One never knows what type of episode you will get.  One second a huge plot point could be the sheriff focusing on whether someone stole his bagel or if he is crazy and left to ponder if he ever even had a bagel to having a whole episode centered around the great character of Matt Jamison played by the amazing actor Christopher Eccleston. That episode as we follow Matt trying to save his dying church should alone show you the potential this program has. That episode had me captivated the whole time and I never knew I would care so much about the outcome of  a game of roulette as Matt bets everything he has to try and raise the money he needs. This episode also went and showed us that even though you may not lose someone physically when the the vanishing happened does not mean your world is forever changed. Matt's wife is still around but is basically comatose because the day of the vanishing caused her car to crash. In addition Matt is a priest and once the vanishing happens he loses most of the city as they now all question their faith in god.   

I know this is not the most exciting show, it sure doesn't have the action of “Game of Thrones” or “24” both programs I love but this is great for other reasons. In a world full of  "Case of the Week" Cop Shows and shows that insult our intelligence such as “Under The Dome” I like this look deep hard look at a world full of broken humans while I root for their recovery.  

*On a side note please do not forget that this show does have some sense of humor, I mean the whole cast of “Perfect Strangers” are part of the departed!!!  

Someone Must Save Us From The Ape Uprising!

Someone Must Save Us From The Ape Uprising!

I remember watching the first “Planet Of The Apes” when I was younger with my father and loving it even though the ending was spoiled for me long before thanks to a certain episode of “The Simpsons”. Once I finished the first movie I immediately watched the next 4 I as was just enamored with this universe. I know the movies have lots of crazy elements, political allegories, and take some weird tangents but as I kid I didn’t notice any of this; I just saw entertaining movies. That being said, I was actually excited for the 2001 Tim Burton remake. I remember seeing the posters for the movie and expecting a bigger version of the movies I loved so much. Of course, the movie came out and it was horrible.  Now 10 years later we finally have the start of a new Apes franchise and so far it has delivered. “The Apes” franchise being one of my favorites I decided I cannot just write a review of “Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes” but instead rank and discuss all of these movies that have entertained us since the 1960’s. I spent the last week re-watching all the “Apes” movies to get ready for this new one and that helped me put in context where this one ranks amongst them all.

HONORABLE MENTION – “Planet Of The Apes – The Musical”

Suffice it to say this short “Simpsons” clip has brought me joy my whole life. I sweat I had the “Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius” musical number in my head for the last month with the buildup of the new film. This short clip of the musical the show gives us is just a clever take on the original movie and has made all fans of that movie happy since it aired.

8.) Planet Of The Apes (2001) – Tim Burton

There are not many good things to say about this movie. The one and only positive aspect of this entire film was that at least the monkeys were not CGI but men in costume. The CGI is great in the new films but it felt really cool to see someone take the practical approach of the original series and improve on it with all the new techniques that had been discovered in that time. Outside of that this movie just had too many flaws, more then I care to mention as others have rehashed them since it was released. I will say my biggest gripe was that the humans all talk. The original “Apes” had humans treated as animals because for all intended purposes they were. Those humans could not talk and did not have rational thought. The Apes saw them and treated them as animals because that is how they acted. That is why Charlton Hesston’s character confused the Apes. He was man displaying abilities they had never seen in humans before. In Tim Burton’s version, the humans clearly have the power of speech and thought and yet the Apes treat them like morons who don’t have a soul. An Ape even states in the movie “Humans have no soul”. I completely believe if in our world Apes who could all walk, talk, and reason, we would not treat them the way we do right now. We would understand that apes are intelligent creatures and not something to be tested on. So why do the “Apes” in Tim Burtons movie treat humans like idiots I have never understood. Also what makes the humans different then Mark Whalburg once he arrives on the scene is not clearly evident. Someone suggests they see “something in his eyes”. I guess Mark’s eyes just scream intelligence or something, I am not sure. As you can see there is a lot wrong with this movie beginning at the basic idea of what the original movie was trying to say. However, if you are into seeing the budding romance between Mark Whalburg’s human and Helena Bonham Carters Ape then go ahead and watch this disaster.  

7.) Escape From The Planet Of The Apes

 Right off the bat I understand this may be a controversial decision. Many people believe this to be one of the better “Ape” movies in the franchise. I have placed this movie at 7 not because it isn’t enjoyable but because of its purpose in the franchise. This film is very entertaining as it shifts from comedy to dark drama so suddenly and does it well. This movie poses lots of ethical questions, like is it ok to murder innocent Apes if mankind may be saved from disaster hundreds of years into the future. This movie also has one of the darker endings as the humans murder our two hero apes and their just born child in cold blood. As viewers we care for these apes; they have been our audience surrogate since the first movie in the franchise. Cornelius and Zira have been the voice of reason for 3 movies and never hurt a fly. I should not care if they live, I should be rooting for the humans here as they are looking out for the race I belong to but I just do not. The apes here represent the good I want in the humans while our people show us exactly the root of our problem. We take drastic actions out of fear; fear that if we don’t kill these apes our future as the dominant race will end. Yet, by murdering the innocent we actually start in the motion the future we feared of.  That being said, why then do I place this movie so far down the list? The answer is that this is less of a movie and acts more like a bridge between the first 2 movies in the original franchise and the last 2 films of the franchise. This movie was made to find a way to extend this series after the earth was destroyed in #2 and achieves that. The series would go on after this and it still does today. As a bridge movie this film works, but it is still just a bridge movie. Also this is the only “Apes” movie that had only 2 apes. When I see a “Apes” movie I just need more Apes!  

6.) Battle For The Planet Of The Apes

This movie to me had the most potential that almost fulfilled its promise but was let down by a lack of budget. When this movie came out the “Apes” franchise was dying and so budgets were cut which really ate into this ambitious movie. The theme of this film was to finally see the beginnings of Ape culture and have them living side-by-side with the remaining humans in a sort of peace. From their view Apes let the humans live but under strict rules since they do not trust the race of men who until recently had enslaved them. Throughout the film we see some Apes beginning to act against Apes which shows that in the end all intelligent races will always end up being the same; there will be good and the bad. With the promise of a new intelligent species we witness also the beginning of history repeating itself as all races will repeat the evils of what came before. In addition, the Apes have to deal with a band of mutant humans who were altered by nuclear blasts as they try and reclaim the earth. In the end we have a battle of humans vs. apes vs. mutants and for some reason it all makes sense. This movie also continues to display the dark themes of this franchise as Caesars kids is murdered by another Ape to start a revolution among their clan.  For all these positive things, the film ends up being a little hokey due to the small budget. One wonders what might have been had the producers had the money to make what they wanted.

5.) Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes

Thanks to the constant marathons of the original franchise on SYFY in the last few weeks I have now seen this for what seems like 10 times. This film had the most action of any of the original movies and was just a bunch of fun. There are of a course a bunch of loop-holes and silliness that exist in this movie but I tend to ignore them. I mean what type of disease wipes out just all domesticated dogs and cats; are lions and wolves spared this mayhem? The movie also claims that in like the span of 10 years humans quickly made apes their pets and then just decided to make them our slaves. This movie takes place in an Ape conditioning center which means we were really efficient in starting this system so fast.  Add in the fact that I am supposed to believe Caesar gets all the Apes o understand him so fast is just ludicrous. Yet, for all these issues, the film is just a fun Ape vs. Man ride. That is pretty much the whole story as this movie had the smallest plot of almost all of the Ape movies. Add in what is an incredible performance by the great Ricardo Montalban as Armando and you will be entertained for the full running time.

4.) Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

I have been debating for days if I enjoyed this movie more than its predecessor “Rise” and came to the conclusion that it just does not rate higher. This is the second movie in the new and updated “Ape” movies and it is fantastic. This film is quite possibly the best movie of Summer 2014. As I watched this on screen I found myself just buying into everything this movie was selling. The basic plot of this movie is that it has been 10 years since the Simian Flu and the Apes who have a makeshift early society outside of San Francisco find out that there are in fact still humans on earth today. The conflict arises because the Apes do not trust humans and want to be left alone but the humans need a power plant nearby to become operational for their own survival.  Both sides have leaders trying to work things out and keep the peace while also having detractors who stir up trouble. What is great about this movie is that as an audience you can understand why each side is weary of the other, and don’t fully blame the detractors for starting trouble. For example, Koba is an ape who was used for experiments all his life by humans and he will never trust them. Suffice it to say things go wrong and both sides up at war.  What is so powerful though is that as a viewer is I didn’t want war. Sure I came to the movies to see an action flick, but an hour into the movie I liked both sides so much I didn’t want anyone to get hurt; that is some powerful filmmaking. Then once you add the brilliant special effects and the effective smaller side stories (such as Caesar’s son Blue Eyes learning that actions have consequences) I could only give this film an “A”. The question becomes then why didn’t I rate this higher than “Rise”?  I concluded that I believed everything going on in this universe because the world building of “Rise” was just so good. I rooted for the Apes because their origin story was so strong. I have re-watched “Rise” countless times and it always holds up. For those reasons I just couldn’t place it higher. The action here is stronger but the smaller moments within the Ape society just didn’t affect me the same way it did with Caesar hanging out with John Lithgow in “Rise”.

3.) Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

This was the movie that re-ignited the Apes franchise with a bang in the Summer of 2011. Going into the summer, everyone was skeptical about this movie; I was not. I was floored by the trailer and went into the movie expecting greatness. This film delivered an amazing origin story to a franchise I hold dear. Sure the special effects were great but that’s not what I rank a movie off on. The relationship between Caesar and his surrogate father played by James Franco and his surrogate Grandfather played by John Lithgow was excellent. Then you have moments that are breathtaking as we get to watch Caesar discover his true strength and ability for the first time in the Redwood Trees. This all happened during the first half of the movie, the second half deals with Caesar learning to become a leader with the others Apes that are trapped with him inside this “Ape Sanctuary”. I should add that how sad it is when Caesar is taken from his home due to a misunderstanding is heartbreaking, and that is the true strength of this movie. As a viewer you fall in love with a CGI Ape and root for it to kill humans. As I said, you don’t care about the sequel unless this movie set up Caesar in a way that makes you love him. This was the first in now what I hope is many more Ape movies because I bought this universe hook, line, and sinker.   

2.) Beneath The Planet Of The Apes

At first view people may be confused why I ranked this so high. The answer is quite simply because this is the one of the most weird and dark movies in the entire franchise.  When  I was younger I never thought this was a great movie, I figured it was just basically a rehash of the first film but with James Franciscus taking the place of Charlton Heston as the astronaut Brent. I recently re-watched this movie and discovered how wrong I was. Yes, the film repeats some of the same beats as the first movie but with one added dimension; mind reading mutants who worship an atomic bomb. It was always going to be hard to top the original movie, but by going weird this film is able to come real close. This allows all the future movies to be able to go for broke as well because this film proved you can take this universe into off-beat directions and audiences will come for the ride. The plot was pretty basic as it was Apes vs. Mutants with our heroes stuck in the middle. However, it’s quite sad that as much as we change as a society, we always end up back at the same place, war. This movie took war one step further and just decided to blow up the earth. As anyone could tell you, the last 15 minutes of this movie is about as genius as it gets and as dark as this franchise may ever end up going. To have a narrator end the movie mentioning the earth’s destruction and have it sound insignificant is like a punch in the gut. For all these reasons, I decided to make this my #2 Apes movie of all time.  

1.) Planet Of The Apes (1968)

Like there was ever any doubt that this would be ranked #1. Without this classic none of these other movies on my list would even exist. This was just a masterfully done film with a great performance by Charlton Heston.  By now everyone knows the plot of this movie and the twist ending that truly turned everyone’s word upside down. The more amazing thing is that even without that surprise ending, this movie is dam entertaining, You feel so angry that the Apes treat Hestons character of George Taylor so bad once he shows he can talk. You wonder why they refuse to believe he has a soul and act as if he doesn’t matter. To the Apes the humans are nothing but animals to be used at their will and no one (not even a smart human) will change that. That’s what is so great about this movie, its basically an allegory showing us how slaves were treated back in the days as owners just ignored these people their human rights. People forget that Rod Serling was a master of not just a surprise ending but by also using genre stories to show us the truth about our culture. I am not sure we will ever find a creator as genius as Serling and having him and Heston work together was just the perfect combo that made this silly movie idea work and be extraordinary.