A LOST Thought...
Obviously, I've invested a lot of time in this show to stick it out to the bitter end... but I wonder -
Has it ever occurred to anyone since midway through the first season, that instead of scattering around like roaches every time something happens, if anyone on the show actually took like, 2 minutes to actually LISTEN to someone else, or ask questions, or even THINK about what they're doing, a lot of the drama would be avoided, or cut back considerably?
I'm sure there's a lesson there...
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tv. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Catching up
I posted the RHUBARB PIE photos... so time for what's been going on recently, if anyone's interested. As I've remarked earlier, I tend to have to go back into the 'real' world to make a living. The last few years, since 2004 have been pretty good - usually, if there's one feature a year, that's a good year of work - two is practically a windfall. Last year looked really promising, with 4 possible films on the table -- but of those 4, only LAST BREATH and THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN actually got off the ground. The infamous NEVER SUBMIT bit the dust, and left a lot of bad feelings, and NAILBITER continues in a holding pattern.
So, no surprise that when the well starts running dry, you have to fall back on what you know... in this case, temp work - customer service, actually. And a chance to be able to finish a few projects in addition to keeping the bills paid. So, that's pretty much where the last month went - most of August spent in training, then unleashed onto the public before Labor Day.
As far as who I work for, that is to be hidden - I personally don't have a problem with saying who, but there are things as nondisclosure agreements; not to mention the fact that Eyes Are Everywhere.
Hey! Here's a mind puzzle -- Who REALLY hates thieves? EVEN BIGGER THIEVES.
Chew over that for a bit... of course nothing should be inferred by that interesting puzzle... heaven forbid.
Anyway...
all of that 9-5 drastically cut into time spent editing, creating subtitles, and generally watching stuff. So, did some time restructuring, and that always (at least for me) takes a few weeks to really kick into feeling comfortable.
Slogged through several sets of TV DVD -- last I left off, I was in the midst of the mega-set of LAND OF THE GIANTS, which I finally finished off. I find that there's not very much to add to my previous comments, other than it probably may be Irwin Allen's most consistent series (hight praise indeed, for IA shows). Towards the end, it starts to veer into more fantastical subject matter, with dimensional businessmen (Jonathan Harris, being relatively restrained), lost underground civilizations, time travellers (one pair being Bruce Dern and Yvonne Craig!), but it does avoid the silliness that usually befell later seasons of IA's shows, so watching the series wasn't quite as cringe inducing as watching LOST IN SPACE can be.
Another fun set was THE EQUALIZER S1, the 80's chestnut of ex-C.I.A. agent Edward Woodward 'equalizing the odds' for regular people terrorized by criminal elements in and around the New York area. The writing was very good for the show (holding up really well some 20 years later), as well as the acting -- a fun bit of watching old shows is spotting present day stars who were starting out at the time -- you'll see glimpses of Luis Guzman, Bradley Whitford (as a rural tough), Jasmine Guy (as a hooker); lots of 80's fashions & hairstyles.
But the main character is NYC B.G. (Before Guiliani) - THIS is the New York I grew up on, a place of awe and terror, where you could be eaten alive as well as drawn into the welcoming bosum... maybe both.
I also found ELEVENTH HOUR at the local library... you may have seen ads for the show on your televison over the past few weeks. You won't be surprised to learn that, yes, it's based on a show originally broadcast in Britain (as is more and more of our programming - LIFE IN MARS is another, and just wait for another attempt at an American DR. WHO. NBC is bucking this trend by basing one of its new sitcoms on an AUSTRALIAN series). The original British show starred Patrick Stewart, as government scientist Ian Hood who's called in to investigate cases that usually involve some perversion of science. The show is more of a thriller than science-fiction (with roots in a British show from the early 70's called DOOMWATCH), and it is good, albeit a bit dry... drier than you'd think with a show created by a writer for DR. WHO and with Stewart. Trekkers beware - if you're looking for a variation of his Picard character, look elsewhere. It was good to see what the original show was like - I think I have a pretty good idea what changes will be made for the American version (more contemporary music and a definite lack of ambiguity, I suspect.)
Currently checking out JOHN FROM CINCINNATI, David Milch's departure from DEADWOOD. I'm a 1/3rd into the series, and I suspect that this will become known as one of the most notorious missed opportunities that the public and critics had to support a show. It's definitely one of the most surreal shows created for American television... maybe a little more about this later, when I've finished it, but if you haven't seen this, rent a copy and check it out. Yeah, it ain't DEADWOOD, but it's not supposed to be. It's surfing and spirituality and Southern California.
... and that pretty much brings us to The Present.
I posted the RHUBARB PIE photos... so time for what's been going on recently, if anyone's interested. As I've remarked earlier, I tend to have to go back into the 'real' world to make a living. The last few years, since 2004 have been pretty good - usually, if there's one feature a year, that's a good year of work - two is practically a windfall. Last year looked really promising, with 4 possible films on the table -- but of those 4, only LAST BREATH and THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN actually got off the ground. The infamous NEVER SUBMIT bit the dust, and left a lot of bad feelings, and NAILBITER continues in a holding pattern.
So, no surprise that when the well starts running dry, you have to fall back on what you know... in this case, temp work - customer service, actually. And a chance to be able to finish a few projects in addition to keeping the bills paid. So, that's pretty much where the last month went - most of August spent in training, then unleashed onto the public before Labor Day.
As far as who I work for, that is to be hidden - I personally don't have a problem with saying who, but there are things as nondisclosure agreements; not to mention the fact that Eyes Are Everywhere.
Hey! Here's a mind puzzle -- Who REALLY hates thieves? EVEN BIGGER THIEVES.
Chew over that for a bit... of course nothing should be inferred by that interesting puzzle... heaven forbid.
Anyway...
all of that 9-5 drastically cut into time spent editing, creating subtitles, and generally watching stuff. So, did some time restructuring, and that always (at least for me) takes a few weeks to really kick into feeling comfortable.
Slogged through several sets of TV DVD -- last I left off, I was in the midst of the mega-set of LAND OF THE GIANTS, which I finally finished off. I find that there's not very much to add to my previous comments, other than it probably may be Irwin Allen's most consistent series (hight praise indeed, for IA shows). Towards the end, it starts to veer into more fantastical subject matter, with dimensional businessmen (Jonathan Harris, being relatively restrained), lost underground civilizations, time travellers (one pair being Bruce Dern and Yvonne Craig!), but it does avoid the silliness that usually befell later seasons of IA's shows, so watching the series wasn't quite as cringe inducing as watching LOST IN SPACE can be.
Another fun set was THE EQUALIZER S1, the 80's chestnut of ex-C.I.A. agent Edward Woodward 'equalizing the odds' for regular people terrorized by criminal elements in and around the New York area. The writing was very good for the show (holding up really well some 20 years later), as well as the acting -- a fun bit of watching old shows is spotting present day stars who were starting out at the time -- you'll see glimpses of Luis Guzman, Bradley Whitford (as a rural tough), Jasmine Guy (as a hooker); lots of 80's fashions & hairstyles.
But the main character is NYC B.G. (Before Guiliani) - THIS is the New York I grew up on, a place of awe and terror, where you could be eaten alive as well as drawn into the welcoming bosum... maybe both.
I also found ELEVENTH HOUR at the local library... you may have seen ads for the show on your televison over the past few weeks. You won't be surprised to learn that, yes, it's based on a show originally broadcast in Britain (as is more and more of our programming - LIFE IN MARS is another, and just wait for another attempt at an American DR. WHO. NBC is bucking this trend by basing one of its new sitcoms on an AUSTRALIAN series). The original British show starred Patrick Stewart, as government scientist Ian Hood who's called in to investigate cases that usually involve some perversion of science. The show is more of a thriller than science-fiction (with roots in a British show from the early 70's called DOOMWATCH), and it is good, albeit a bit dry... drier than you'd think with a show created by a writer for DR. WHO and with Stewart. Trekkers beware - if you're looking for a variation of his Picard character, look elsewhere. It was good to see what the original show was like - I think I have a pretty good idea what changes will be made for the American version (more contemporary music and a definite lack of ambiguity, I suspect.)
Currently checking out JOHN FROM CINCINNATI, David Milch's departure from DEADWOOD. I'm a 1/3rd into the series, and I suspect that this will become known as one of the most notorious missed opportunities that the public and critics had to support a show. It's definitely one of the most surreal shows created for American television... maybe a little more about this later, when I've finished it, but if you haven't seen this, rent a copy and check it out. Yeah, it ain't DEADWOOD, but it's not supposed to be. It's surfing and spirituality and Southern California.
... and that pretty much brings us to The Present.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Happy New Year
Hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season…
It’s been a busy month, so busy that I couldn’t spare time to write up any account until now – most of it was finishing commitments I’d made earlier, and the rest of it was spending time with relatives and catching up with DVD watching.
Most of that watching has been of TV season sets, which has been the most addictive thing I’ve encountered, so far. They’ve made for a nice diversion when taking breaks from the work I had to do.
I remember seeing Gerry Anderson’s UFO series when it was first syndicated in the States in the early 70’s – I hadn’t seen the show since that time, so I wasn’t quite sure if the show was as good as I remembered it being, or if I was just seduced by the miniature effects and Moonbase chicks in silver suits and purple wigs. Surprisingly, the show holds up very well compared to genre shows of today – there are elements that date the show like the fashions, the attitude towards women (which is interesting – there are women in command positions, but there’s a strong smarmy vibe in how they’re treated, a vibe that’s very common in shows from the 60’s/early 70’s), and the drinking and smoking – but there’s a total commitment to the concept – no hint of smirking irony that seems to be a necessary component of today’s genre shows, and no fear of presenting unsympathetic characters.
Also took a look at the first season of DEADWOOD, when the discs were available at the library – not having HBO at home, means that I catch their shows later than most people, once the hype has passed – DEADWOOD certainly lives up to all the hype about it when it debuted (unlike CARNIVALE, which, though I’m looking forward to seeing the second year, I can see why it didn’t last any longer).
The big watching project for me has been Rhino’s THE MONKEES season sets… I’m finishing up with the first year and looking forward to the second season eps. THE MONKEES hold up extremely well, some 40 years later, and are a hell of a lot funnier than any contemporary sitcom… while some of the writing is too ‘wacky’ (wackiness being big in the 60’s), there’s a genuine sense of fun and anarchy that must have been bracing when audiences saw the first broadcasts… particularly in the musical romps and the unscripted verite interview segments that end some of the episodes. Whatever you may think about The Monkees being a ‘real’ band or not, it can’t be disputed that the foursome quickly proved their chops at handling the comedy.
Amongst all of this, there hasn’t been time to get out to the theaters to see stuff, but to be honest, there’s not a lot out this season that’s pulling me out to the theaters – well, to the first run theaters, except for GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK, which lasted a whole week at the local cineplex before making way for KING KONG – more interesting things are in the second run theatres like WALLACE AND GROMIT, THE WEATHER MAN, so I’ll hit those before they get to disc hopefully – having seen 2 other versions of NARNIA (animated and BBC), I don’t feel the need to see the LOTR version, and frankly, a 3-hour KONG doesn’t really interest me… methinks the smell of hubris is in the air for Team Jackson, and I hope they take the hint. Fortunately, I’ve been able to sneak in better movies in between all the television viewing, like NIGHTMARE ALLEY, POINT BLANK, THE CORPORATION.
Part of what took a lot of time was finishing up the paperwork for REST E-Z; now that it’s finished, I have another project coming up in a few months – currently reading the script for it now and more about it to come… what I can say is that it’s a genre film and it’s being made by people that I’ve worked with before, so I’ve got a great feeling about it.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Takedown!
New Night Stalker Folds
Night Stalker producer Frank Spotnitz posted this on his blog:http://www.biglight.com/blog/2005/11/night-stalker-finis.html
" 'NIGHT STALKER' FINIS
It is with regret that I confirm "Night Stalker" has been canceled. While I'm disappointed the series has come to an end, I am enormously grateful for the experience and the opportunity given me by the network and Touchstone Television. I would like to thank our amazingly talented cast, wonderful crew, killer post-production department, terrific writing staff, producers and partners in crime Daniel Sackheim and John Peter Kousakis, the incredible Jana Fain, and all of you who watched and enjoyed the show. It was a blast."
There IS a God!
Na-na-na-Na
Na-na-na-Na
Hey-Hey-Hey
Goodbye....
New Night Stalker Folds
Night Stalker producer Frank Spotnitz posted this on his blog:http://www.biglight.com/blog/2005/11/night-stalker-finis.html
" 'NIGHT STALKER' FINIS
It is with regret that I confirm "Night Stalker" has been canceled. While I'm disappointed the series has come to an end, I am enormously grateful for the experience and the opportunity given me by the network and Touchstone Television. I would like to thank our amazingly talented cast, wonderful crew, killer post-production department, terrific writing staff, producers and partners in crime Daniel Sackheim and John Peter Kousakis, the incredible Jana Fain, and all of you who watched and enjoyed the show. It was a blast."
There IS a God!
Na-na-na-Na
Na-na-na-Na
Hey-Hey-Hey
Goodbye....
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Time, time time, see what's become of me...
I had intended on a lengthy post; going into some detail on Halloween double-features, as well as a rant on NIGHT STINKER and how Spotnitz and crew chose to exploit the wrong franchise (if they had taken inspiration from THE NORLISS TAPES - Dan Curtis' own failed television pilot featuring a Kolchak-like reporter without Darrin McGavin in the lead - then the current show would probably not suck as hard as it does)... but most of that will have to wait a while.
I may have a job on a lo-budget feature shooting in the area for the next few weeks. Nothing is quite definite - the deal is about 75% there, but nothing's been signed as of yet - but if we come to a meeting of the minds, I'll probably not update for a couple of weeks or so.
In other words, no big changes.
You'll notice that I've added a blogroll on the sidebar - and have added a few more blogs of interest.
A big shout-out to Dennis of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule - he's finally started to post the results of his summer film quiz and has had some nice things to say about my contributions.
As to those Halloween double features... to kick things off, I offer up the combination of:
Lifeforce (1985) and Dreamcatcher (2003)
They're both fairly light films, to start; they're both a lot of fun and they both were reviled at the time of their release, but have gained cult followings.
More later...
I had intended on a lengthy post; going into some detail on Halloween double-features, as well as a rant on NIGHT STINKER and how Spotnitz and crew chose to exploit the wrong franchise (if they had taken inspiration from THE NORLISS TAPES - Dan Curtis' own failed television pilot featuring a Kolchak-like reporter without Darrin McGavin in the lead - then the current show would probably not suck as hard as it does)... but most of that will have to wait a while.
I may have a job on a lo-budget feature shooting in the area for the next few weeks. Nothing is quite definite - the deal is about 75% there, but nothing's been signed as of yet - but if we come to a meeting of the minds, I'll probably not update for a couple of weeks or so.
In other words, no big changes.
You'll notice that I've added a blogroll on the sidebar - and have added a few more blogs of interest.
A big shout-out to Dennis of Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule - he's finally started to post the results of his summer film quiz and has had some nice things to say about my contributions.
As to those Halloween double features... to kick things off, I offer up the combination of:
Lifeforce (1985) and Dreamcatcher (2003)
They're both fairly light films, to start; they're both a lot of fun and they both were reviled at the time of their release, but have gained cult followings.
More later...
Friday, October 07, 2005
Night Stinker
To: Frank Spotnitz, producer
Re: NIGHT STALKER revival
Mr. Spotnitz:
Saw the second episode of your Night Stalker revival show... I missed the pilot, but did want to at least sample the show. I hate to add to the reams of mail you've gotten denouncing the show - but after seeing "The Five People You Meet In Hell", I have no other choice.
First of all - if you want to make an "X-Files" of your own, why didn't you just pay Chris Carter a fee and come up with a differently titled show? What I saw wasn't even in the spirit of "Night Stalker" - it was literally cobbled together from X-FILES leavings, from concept to scripted lines. If a blind person were listening to the show, they'd think they'd stumbled onto a syndicated rerun. For all the hype this past summer about 'reimaging' NIGHT STALKER, I would have hoped for something better than a show that blatantly uses concepts and character motivations from X-FILES, combined with the dark sensibility of MILLENNIUM, only to emerge as something much lesser than all those shows combined.
The maddening thing is, there appears to be a lot of talent involved (the sight of Darin Morgan's name as a Consulting Producer was welcome), and a lot of effort put into the show.... but the damn thing is BORING. There's no reason to care about these characters - at least no good reason given. And there's no good reason for this show being called NIGHT STALKER other than trying to grab an audience due to name recognition. Perhaps if it had been developed as something to stand on its own feet instead of being propped up by name branding and outright "homaging" of another show.
The one good thing to come of it is that it allowed the release of the original series with Darren McGavin onto DVD format, for the fans of the original series to enjoy and for newer audiences to discover.
I hope that the show lasts long enough to develop its own voice - hopefully one of Darin Morgan's scripts will be brillant enough to cut through the dross of this NIGHT STINKER. Maybe by then, I'll be interested in watching the show on a regular basis. But somehow, I doubt that day will come.
ADDENDUM - 10/10/05
I actually got a response to this as follows:
thank you for your letter i will certainly pass this along to mr. spotnitz. it's such a shame that judgement has been passed based on one episode. sad really. luckily we have been blessed with thousands of letters of support from people who love the show. maybe you'll change your mind at some later point. thanks again for writing.
night stalker staff
Kinda snarky, but only fair, since my mail was kinda snarky also - at least they're polite. And they are answering mail.
To: Frank Spotnitz, producer
Re: NIGHT STALKER revival
Mr. Spotnitz:
Saw the second episode of your Night Stalker revival show... I missed the pilot, but did want to at least sample the show. I hate to add to the reams of mail you've gotten denouncing the show - but after seeing "The Five People You Meet In Hell", I have no other choice.
First of all - if you want to make an "X-Files" of your own, why didn't you just pay Chris Carter a fee and come up with a differently titled show? What I saw wasn't even in the spirit of "Night Stalker" - it was literally cobbled together from X-FILES leavings, from concept to scripted lines. If a blind person were listening to the show, they'd think they'd stumbled onto a syndicated rerun. For all the hype this past summer about 'reimaging' NIGHT STALKER, I would have hoped for something better than a show that blatantly uses concepts and character motivations from X-FILES, combined with the dark sensibility of MILLENNIUM, only to emerge as something much lesser than all those shows combined.
The maddening thing is, there appears to be a lot of talent involved (the sight of Darin Morgan's name as a Consulting Producer was welcome), and a lot of effort put into the show.... but the damn thing is BORING. There's no reason to care about these characters - at least no good reason given. And there's no good reason for this show being called NIGHT STALKER other than trying to grab an audience due to name recognition. Perhaps if it had been developed as something to stand on its own feet instead of being propped up by name branding and outright "homaging" of another show.
The one good thing to come of it is that it allowed the release of the original series with Darren McGavin onto DVD format, for the fans of the original series to enjoy and for newer audiences to discover.
I hope that the show lasts long enough to develop its own voice - hopefully one of Darin Morgan's scripts will be brillant enough to cut through the dross of this NIGHT STINKER. Maybe by then, I'll be interested in watching the show on a regular basis. But somehow, I doubt that day will come.
ADDENDUM - 10/10/05
I actually got a response to this as follows:
thank you for your letter i will certainly pass this along to mr. spotnitz. it's such a shame that judgement has been passed based on one episode. sad really. luckily we have been blessed with thousands of letters of support from people who love the show. maybe you'll change your mind at some later point. thanks again for writing.
night stalker staff
Kinda snarky, but only fair, since my mail was kinda snarky also - at least they're polite. And they are answering mail.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Stuph...
Quite a busy weekend - did make it in to see The Billy Nayer Show and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum despite the downpour. Discovered the next morning that water came down the chimney and overflowed into the basement, effectively destroying two rugs... but they were ratty anyway, so no big loss there.
I celebrated my birthday last week - Jason Pankoke (editor of Micro-Film Magazine, whose latest issue is now available) sent me a card which was one of the best cards I'd ever received. I was even more impressed when the card turned up on local news broadcasts and newpaper opinion columns over the weekend, due to the Mayor and other City bigwigs whining about it.
Quite a busy weekend - did make it in to see The Billy Nayer Show and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum despite the downpour. Discovered the next morning that water came down the chimney and overflowed into the basement, effectively destroying two rugs... but they were ratty anyway, so no big loss there.
I celebrated my birthday last week - Jason Pankoke (editor of Micro-Film Magazine, whose latest issue is now available) sent me a card which was one of the best cards I'd ever received. I was even more impressed when the card turned up on local news broadcasts and newpaper opinion columns over the weekend, due to the Mayor and other City bigwigs whining about it.
If city fathers can't see the humor in this, then it's no wonder that it's so difficult trying to attract wealthy, hip business to the city and state - besides the "Evolution is Evil" school debates and the whole hating fags thing, that is.
The New Television Season is upon us, and this year marks the return of Genre television to the Networks... Being a fan of genre tv, I should be pleased that there's a lot more out there than the usual tired STAR TREK spin-off. However, I detect more than a slight whiff of deja vu off of most of the shows.
SURFACE is such a blatant homage to the works of Steven Spielberg (specifically CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, but there's bits more than reminiscent of JAWS and E.T. on occasion), I half expect to see Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillon strolling across the screen on their way to Devil's tower instead of Lake Bell and... is it Jay Ferguson? ... hanging around the water's edge to find out what this new aquatic species is, that the Government is attempting to keep secret. It's entertaining so far, but if I start to hallucinate Robert Shaw during a broadcast, it's over.
INVASION and THRESHOLD are about alien invasions, INVASION taking it's own sweet time in setting things up in which aliens may have invaded the Florida coast after a hurricane, examining the effects on a small town. INVASION looks great, but it's missing some words in the the title... like "Of The Body Snatchers". I hope there may be some cross-over with COMMANDER IN CHIEF and Donald Sutherland does a guest shot later in the series - they've already tipped their hand with having Veronica Cartwright guest.
THRESHOLD is the name of the Government team and plan to deal with alien encounters. Although exactly what the aliens are up to is sort of hard to figure out - something to do with aliens from possibly another dimension who are mutating humans by means of a signal... I don't know. I'm not entirely sure the writers do either, although the cast (Carla Guigno, Brett Spiner, Charles S. Dutton and Peter Dinklage) try to fake it as best they can.
Both shows.... ehh. No reason to hate them, but it's not love at first sight either.
That leaves LOST, which kicked off strong this season by starting to answer some questions - which, of course, leads to even more questions. After seeing the third episode, I'm convinced that there is indeed some long term plan in place...
Think of LOST as the television equivalent of a graphic novel, and then the format begins to make a lot more sense - the flashbacks that help to explain some facet of the characters, the different p.o.v.'s of the same event, and the little hidden details that are keeping the forum boards busy and dvd sets bought and/or rented. That, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and FARGATE are the highlights so far, but the latter two won't have new episodes until January.
And yes, it's FARGATE - amazing what getting rid of McGuyver (who's been coasting for years and insufferable to the nth degree) and adding 2/5ths of the FARSCAPE cast will accomplish. The show is actually interesting to watch this year.
I've purposely left out NIGHT STINKER - I missed the pilot last week, but I didn't lose much sleep over it. I can't responsibly comment until I actually see and episode or two, but I do have two things to say:
1) If you just want to do another X-FILES, then dammit, make a deal with Chris Carter. I grew up on THE NIGHT STALKER and Carl Kolchak - and this ain't it.
2) The original KOLCHAK:THE NIGHT STALKER just came out on DVD this week and the tv movies THE NIGHT STALKER and THE NIGHT STRANGLER have been available for some time. Do yourself a favor and rent or buy these instead of NIGHT STINKER.
Jonathan Carroll's new novel GLASS SOUP is out - it's a follow-up to his last work WHITE APPLES.
Lastly, I want to mention Lawrence, KS based writer/director Kevin Wilmott whose movie CSA - THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA opens in Memphis, Tennessee at the Ridgeway Theatre and the Downtown Mall Charlottesville, Virginia on October 7th.
IFC Films is opening the film in the South and will spread to more theaters in other parts of the country over the next few months.
The film has already taken a lot of heat due to the subject matter and due to Spike Lee's name as Executive Producer (Spike had nothing to do with the production of the film, although some don't seem to register that).
If it opens near you, go make up your own mind; take friends and family with you, and be ready for some discussion afterwards.
By the way, the Lincoln in this clip from a "D.W. Griffith film" (actually a pretty clever pastiche) is actually KS. filmmaker Kevin McKinney. He makes a great Lincoln-in-blackface.
I was going to start posting some Halloween picks here - maybe in a couple of days. I need to start watching some appropriate films. Expect, in a few weeks, something on two underrated television series that ended much too soon: MILLENNIUM and MIRACLES.
Monday, April 14, 2003
Monkeys With A Concept
Everybody under 25 is a dumbass.
At least that's the impression I'm getting watching SCARE TACTICS, the Sci-Fi Channel's take on 'hidden video' programming with Shannon Doherty. The basic set-up is pretty much the same as Candid Camera, Spy TV and the endless follow-ups/rip-offs -- the gimmick this time around is that most of the situations are inspired by science-fiction & horror movies.
This has the probability of being somewhat greasy fun... the first segment kicked off with an "alien abduction" prank, which then decended into cheesiness with the appearance of the rubber-suit 'alien' pulling the door off of the car and dragging out the driver. Subsequent segments go through a catalog of urban legend bane - Bigfoot, homicidal maniacs in the woods, murderous clones in warehouses - and some take their cues from films such as "Flatliners", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", and more.
While it is fun watching clueless youth work themselves into frightful fits, the overall impression one is left with is that the Youth of America are bone-stick stupid, gullible naifs who'll fall for anything. While this does explain the success of shows such as Elimidate, Survivor and others in the "reality/hidden-camera" genre, and our current War In Iraq, it doesn't make one sleep well at night to realize that at some point these same gullible naifs will be running the country some day.
As for Shannon Doherty, who left her previous show CHARMED because it was "stupid" -- someone must have some juicy video footage of her doing something heinous to make a such a lateral career move.. That, or she must be related to one of the creators.
Everybody under 25 is a dumbass.
At least that's the impression I'm getting watching SCARE TACTICS, the Sci-Fi Channel's take on 'hidden video' programming with Shannon Doherty. The basic set-up is pretty much the same as Candid Camera, Spy TV and the endless follow-ups/rip-offs -- the gimmick this time around is that most of the situations are inspired by science-fiction & horror movies.
This has the probability of being somewhat greasy fun... the first segment kicked off with an "alien abduction" prank, which then decended into cheesiness with the appearance of the rubber-suit 'alien' pulling the door off of the car and dragging out the driver. Subsequent segments go through a catalog of urban legend bane - Bigfoot, homicidal maniacs in the woods, murderous clones in warehouses - and some take their cues from films such as "Flatliners", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", and more.
While it is fun watching clueless youth work themselves into frightful fits, the overall impression one is left with is that the Youth of America are bone-stick stupid, gullible naifs who'll fall for anything. While this does explain the success of shows such as Elimidate, Survivor and others in the "reality/hidden-camera" genre, and our current War In Iraq, it doesn't make one sleep well at night to realize that at some point these same gullible naifs will be running the country some day.
As for Shannon Doherty, who left her previous show CHARMED because it was "stupid" -- someone must have some juicy video footage of her doing something heinous to make a such a lateral career move.. That, or she must be related to one of the creators.
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