Mr. Genre Goes to Setting (And Gets Lucky)

It seems we have another "accessible" sci-fi show coming to TV this fall: Shonda Rimes' Defying Gravity. Rimes is the creator of Grey's Anatomy, and the basic premise of Defying Gravity is that a bunch of astronauts live on a space ship in a Big Brother-type setting, and that their primary concern is not so much as their mission, or life on a space ship, but, rather sex. Yep, a "sci-fi" show whose press presents it as not only being entirely about sex, but about the juvenile, damaging, hedonistic, dangerously fantastical approach to sex as seen on Grey's Anatomy.

Honestly, when I first saw this trailer on the telly, I thought it was a prank. Most reputable sci-fi has a good love story, happy or sad. We all smiled or cried over Captain Kirk and his exotic alien babes, Picard and Crusher's unrequited love, Han and Leia, Sheridan and Delenn, Kira and Odo, Jack O'Neil and Samantha, John and Riley (ok, maybe not that last one, as no one watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)...but this is something disturbingly different.

Are Defying Gravity and Stargate: Universe indicative of what's meant by the SyFy channel's mandate of diversifying programming and making it more accessible (DG, for the record, is an ABC show)? I sure hope not, because anything associated with Grey's has a higher-than-average likelihood of being....um....bad.

Seriously, though. What happens when you take a genre - in this case, sci-fi - and relegate it to setting status, ignoring the philosophical qualities? Can it still be considered sci-fi if it adheres to the genre in letter (advanced technology; off-Earth setting) but not in spirit (no, "orgies in space" is not a standard sci-fi storytelling element)?

Hopefully, this is just the fad for a season or two. Every TV season has a fad, just like how every summer there are two or three movies with the same foundation, like Armageddon and Deep Impact in 1998. In the meantime, if I find myself concerned about how people handle interpersonal relationships in space, I'll pop in a little TNG, or if romance isn't the concern of the day, 2001: A Space Odyssey..and pretend that Deying Gravity will never make it to air.

By The Beard Of Ra!

Re: what exactly will the SyFy channel do about "diversifying" it's programming to attract non-sci-fi viewers?

I think we have our scary, scary answer.

Scary.

Emmy, Where's Your Trousers?

I'm not going to rant about this year's glaring Emmy nomination exclusions, because it always just sounds snooty. I'm not even going to rant about how no recognition for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (save a sound editing nod) or Life (did they even submit considerations?) factors into my opinion of the Emmys as a meaningful honour. But I could, because everyone involved in at least the last four episodes that closed Terminator, and Life's mid-season "Badge Bunny" deserves to be recognized for putting out the highest-quality TV I've seen in twenty years as a watcher. Heck, I'd send them a plaque myself.

What I am going to do is take an opportunity to point your attention towards the gentleman who, amidst two remarkable ensemble casts, is the one I believe to be most deserving of award-based recognition this year: supporting actor (and master artist) Garret Dillahunt. Playing a total of three very different characters on two very different shows - Terminator and Life, natch - and kicking ass and taking names across the board, Dillahunt proved himself to be the epitomy of the writer/director's dream: the actor who will not only take everything you throw at him, but deliver it. His performance on Terminator as a (literal) killing machine whose body gets repurposed to house a childlike artificial intelligence prototype was one of if not the most convincing turns I've seen on-screen (see especially: "Cain Raised An Abel"). On Life, as crimelord Roman Nemikov, his portrayal was so strong and thorough that Roman's presence loomed over the entire second half of the season. He only appeared on-screen in three episodes, but I remember him as having been a regular.

And the little TV clips on Terminator of the Hercules/Beastmaster-type program starring the man whose body Dillahunt's terminator originally stole? Brilliant on so many levels.

The full casts (and writers, directors, art directors, cinematographers, music directors) of Terminator and Life were extraordinary talents who will be missed, at least by me, who doesn't believe HBO and House are the crowning achievements of dramatic television. But if one just person outside the sound crew from either show could be recognized for their work. I'd want it to be Garret Dillahunt. Well done, sir.

Happy Bastille Day, Everybody!

Well, maybe "happy" is the wrong adjective.

...

The long-awaited ending of Heaven's Gate

Congratulations, sympathy, and much thanks to the brave soul who Moviepooped Heaven's Gate. This infamous 80's western screens in its entirety about once every four months on TVO's Saturday Night at the Movies - oh TVO, I miss you! - and I decided to take a stab at it before we left Ontario. I couldn't make it past the 2.5-hour mark, at which point there were still almost 1.5 hours left to go. Some movies are worth staying up until 2 in the morning to finish; this overly long, poorly-paced, minimally scripted and generally boring debacle is not one of them. If you have a deep and resentful loathing for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books, stay away from this film - it's the cinematic equivalent. (Haven't read The Wheel of Time? If you've ever watched Dragonball Z, it's the same idea.)

It's easy to be tempted to watch Heaven's Gate. Who can resist a western, least of all a western whose cast includes John Hurt, Christopher Walken, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Jeff Bridges, and Isabelle Huppert? It sounds great on paper. This is the second most disappointing western I've ever seen...though I suppose I haven't really seen it, as I didn't sit through the whole thing. But now I know how it ends, so thank'ee, Moviepooper!

Warhol-Sequitur

I'm about to embark on an extensive just-for-fun paper, subject Andy Warhol. A recently heard comment has led me to take a second look at his work, and appreciate it for the first time. Can anyone recommend a notable book, documentary, etc.?

Fire Up The Warthog!

I've never heard of South African director Neil Blomkamp, nor his award-winning sci-fi short Alive in Joburg, nor of the feature film that led to, District 9, which is set for release this August. I have, however, heard of Peter Jackson, and his refusal to direct (but agreement to executive-produce) a film version of the Xbox phenomenon Halo. Halo: The Movie never made it far past the greenlight room, reportedly because Universal and Fox didn't want to approve something so expensive without Jackson directing. The story goes that Jackson put forward Neil Blomkamp's name to helm Halo. The studio response: "Who's going to watch a film directed by Neil Blomkamp?"

Judging by this trailer, a lot of people - myself included.

If District 9 holds up to the quality promised in that clip, I'd look forward to the same director's version of Halo. There hasn't been a good military sci-fi film since Aliens, so we're long overdue. What I would not look forward to is Halo by Peter Jackson, mostly because of his disturbing love of melodrama, amply demonstrated in weird plot additions to The Lord of the Rings that didn't so much render the story more accessible as they did cause my ears to bleed. If Jackson made Halo, he'd probably do something like have Cortana download into a hot human body so that her and the Master Chief could get jiggy with it. And let's face it, their love is strange enough as it is. (Cortana is an artificial intelligence. And the Master Chief is a cyborg, so can he even, I mean, you know?)

But hey! There's a new sci-fi film coming soon, and it promises very good things, so let's all be happy and wait for August (and hope it screens locally).

How To Succeed In Diplomacy Without Really Trying

If you don't know who Andy Warhol or Jasper Johns is, this may not be funny.

Sci-Fi's Metamorphosis

Did you know that the Sci-Fi Channel has changed it's name to SyFy, believing that this will encourage viewers who won't watch anything labeled sci-fi to tune in?

Well, it's news to me!

This move has been partly explained as a desire to have a unique brand name. The people behind the change claim that SyFy will give them more flexibility in programming. I'm curious to see how, unless they're planning on diluting the channel's content with other genres, and why that would be considered a good move. One of the main points of having (and watching) a specialty channel is because it has a specialty. I'd wager most people don't watch TSN for reasons not involving sporting events and news, or watch Discovery because they're really in the mood for some fiction (unless you'd put Criss Angel Mindfreak in that category, in which case you're in luck). I'd like to see whatever test marketing they've done involving people who don't like sci-fi and how the name change affects their media consumption. The most interesting thing here is that ratings and demographics are not an issue - the Sci-Fi Channel is going strong across the globe, with a balanced gender demographic to boot.

I can understand the temptation to move the channel from a (wildly popular) specialty product to a mass-market product that the jocks, geeks, goths, preps, and your mom who watches American Idol can all agree on. After all, we've seen it happen recently and with great success in the film industry: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Star Trek have been embraced by people who wouldn't be caught dead reading a comic or watching an episode. However, we've also seen the same intent produce quite the opposite result; see: The Incredible Hulk. No, wait, don't. Please. For your own sake.

Then, there have been a handful of recent films not trying to cater outside their target markets, which have been good and returned a decent box office but haven't become mass-consciousness phenomenons, i.e. Hellboy. I'm guessing that's kind of where the Sci-Fi channel is right now, popular and profitable, but popular and profitable isn't as good as wildly popular and hugely profitable, so they're trying to raise the stakes.

I can't help but see the SyFy Channel having a Stargate: Atlantis effect. A few years ago, the producers/writers seemed to think they were giving the people what they want by killing a major male character for no plot reason (and, they insist, no personal reason) and replacing him with Firefly's Jewel Staite, thus severely skewing SGA's Hot Guy to Hot Girl ratio whilst losing an interesting, entertaining, well-established character. It turns out that the show badly underestimated its audience, as the backlash was so intense and angry and prolonged that they soon found themselves scrambling to find a way to bring this guy back to life, but plot or contractual obligations prevented them from doing much about it. It's one of the the classic TV blunders: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Also, Syfy looks like an abbreviation for Syphyllis. That's just undignified.

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Bank Job

I've watched a lot of heist films, but rarely enjoyed doing so. It's a genre that typically glamourizes and glorifies criminals and crime, and that tends to spoil the fun for me. I don't even partake in socially acceptable theft, like pirating music and film, so as slick and well-put together as something like Ocean's Eleven is, I just can't get into its groove. So help me for being a stuffy, uptight, conservative goody-two-shoes; I just don't find gleeful, wanton criminal behaviour with no significant negative consequences to be interesting or fun.

Then again, if I were a true stuffy, uptight, conservative goody-two-shoes, I'd never have watched The Bank Job past its first sixty seconds. The best heist film I've ever seen is, unfortunately, a film I'm not going to recommend to anybody (but I'll tell you about it 'til your ears fall off. Hypocrisy? Irony? You decide!).

The Bank Job (2008) tells a version of the Baker Street Robbery, a 1971 heist involving a big enough haul and small-but-juicy enough amount of public information to propel it to urban legend heights. The film follows a man named Terry (Jason Statham), a part-time thief not making enough in his day job to pay off some crime boss (whether its a loan or protection money is never specified). When his friend and part-time colleague Martine (Saffron Burrows) propositions him with a solid plan to roll a bank, Terry's desire to pay his debts and get out of "the business" prompt his agreement. Also requiring a tidy bit of cash is Terry's desire to permanently leave the country with his wife and kids, so that he'll no longer have to worry about them being harmed by a vengeful mark or colleague.

The heist, however, is not the climax of the film, but the end of the first act. The second and third acts are the story of the aftermath. Unbeknownst to the crew, Martine has been hired by British domestic intelligence (MI-5) to retrieve the contents of a specific safety deposit box belonging to a local criminal. It turns out someone's been blackmailing his way out of prosecution by possessing sexually indecent photos of the Queen's little sister. Upon discovering these, Terry is both livid and terrified of the ramifications of knowing they exist. Also winding up in the crew's possession are a local madame's blackmail photos, mostly of MPs, and a list of dirty cops. At this point, the heist takes a back seat as the story becomes Terry and co. trying to figure out the safest way to dispose of information some people would kill for.

I suppose it would be more appropriate to think of The Bank Job as a drama/thriller rather than a heist film, especially since the heist isn't the story. There's a lot to appreciate in this film. The acting, writing, directing, and use of music are solid. Amongst a cast of British TV regulars, Statham stands out in particular, his performance being so...normal. Terry's reaction upon agreeing to the heist, in spite of its gravity and his reasons for doing it, includes a touch of giddy, incredulous, I-can't-believe-I'm-actually-going-to-rob-a-bank! bubbling up to the surface. It's these small things, present but quiet, that prove Jason Statham to be very good at his job. In a nice touch rarely seen at the movies, Martine's withholding the job's true nature is presented not as conniving greed, but an attempt to protect Terry and the crew from the trouble that accompanies such knowledge. My favourite part of the movie? The fact that it's about fallout, and consequences, and is not in the least bit glamorous or sexy. In a nice bit of foreshadowing that pretty well sets the tone of the movie, the crew ultimately accesses the bank through an underground crypt packed with Black Death leftovers . Overall, The Bank Job is a gritty, severe, often uncomfortable portrait of why crime bears no resemblance to George Clooney's giddy antics in the Ocean movies, and very well-done. From my perspective, it's the best heist film yet.

There is, however, a very big caveat for some viewers. There is more female nudity in the first fifteen minutes of The Bank Job alone (with more to come later) than I've ever seen contained in one movie. It's not entirely unreasonable, as a large portion of the plot involves the practice and consequences of sexual deviance and general depravity, and one of the villains is a pornographer, and the nudity is not presented in a particularly tittilating fashion either - but I know that for many people, the context doesn't matter, only the presence. With a story set in 1971, it's kind of funny and perhaps not coincidental that on-screen nudity is so prevalent in 70's film that it's almost a defining mark of the era. Bonus points for authenticity?

There's also a lot of very uncomfortable and disturbing violence in the film (and I'm okay with that, since murder and torture aren't subjects to be dealt with lightly), but most of it is off-camera or cut away from. Even without reveals, though, it's cringe-inducing - I couldn't even bring myself to watch some of the characters anticipation of what was to come, which I guess says something about their quality of work. The Bank Job is, in every way, "intended for mature audiences. Viewer discretion is advised."

It's one of the most mature films I've seen, in the sense that it could be more harmful than other films to watch without thinking about it what's being said, or having a stronger sense of what you do and don't take away from visuals. Someone could go in thinking that they're going to see a cool film, discover to their disappointment that this one's dark and deep, and only pay attention to (or remember the film for) the incredible nudity. Or go in knowing exactly what they'll get, and still have the same reaction.

As I said, I will not recommend, i.e. tell anyone they should watch this movie. It's excellent, yes, but so's The Big Lebowski, and for similar reasons I don't usually recommend that one either. So.

Fallout-Sequitur: The Amazing Disappearing Nuka-Cola Truck?

So, you know how the distribution list at the Nuka-Cola factory lists the Super-Duper Mart, Paradise Falls, and the Old Olney grocery at the main Quantum drop sites? Long after completing "The Nuka-Colla Challenge", I finally went into Old Olney - I was avoiding it because it's full of Deathclaws, and I didn't have the dart gun - and not only is the Old Olney grocery apparently no longer in existence, but the whole Deathclaw-infested city and sewers only yielded one puny bottle of Quantum. Sure there's lots of ordnance in the sewers, but you'll probably spend it all killing Deathclaws, and the only real reason to go down there is for a unique suit of power armor, a couple of mini-nukes, and a free Fat Man (too bad I'm using a character more closely resembling a U.S. Army Ranger than a Cap Trooper - that loot's useless!).

But then, a glimmer of hope! On the steps of the firehouse, on the southeast corner of town, is a skeleton with a note beside it telling of how the Quantum delivery truck had an accident and jacknifed on the highway "east of town", but the shipment was intact! So I spent quite some time trolling the ground-level and elevated highways in the southeast quadrant, but no truck. I remember coming across a truckload of Quantum earlier in the game, but it was nowhere close to Old Olney, so I'm thinking this truck doesn't actually exist, and that's it's all a cruel, cruel joke. A cruel, cruel joke full of Deathclaws.

So if you haven't completed the Nuka-Cola Challenge, and are thinking that going to Old Olney will help, it looks like you're mistaken. Unless you want that power armor, save yourself the time (and ordnance).

(One plus side: the eastern overpass overlooking the town is a great place to practice very long-range sniping in safety. Even if you hit a monster, it won't see you and can't get to you anyway.)