On the Sunset Strip

I recently finished a TV show. No, I didn't finish making a TV show, I finished watching one. The title of this blog is only obscure enough to hide the identity of the show from those who have never heard of it, so here's the big reveal:

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

It was probably the smartest show I've ever watched. A friend recommended it to me--let me stop there and elaborate.

I take recommendations only occasionally. I, like everyone, have a busy life. I work and play and work and sometimes sleep. I don't like to waste my time reading bad books or watching mediocre (or bad) TV shows, or seeing tasteless films. People recommend stuff to me all the time. Often, I take those recommendations with a sincere grain of salt. I care that people love the things they see, but... Anyway. You get the point.

But I have a friend who consistently recommends good things. Movies and TV, specifically. She speaks, I listen. And so it was that in a totally unrelated conversation, she mentioned this show that was too smart and too inside to stay on the air. She was right. It was so smart it made my head spin. And so inside that I couldn't believe it stayed on the air for as long as it did (by "inside," I mean there were constant entertainment-industry references.)

AND (here's the real surprise) it was meaningful, and resonant, and heart-warming, and incredibly, unbelievably compassionate to both its characters and the audience. It took me about a week to burn through the only 22 episodes of this show there will ever be.

The show is liberal. It has to be--almost every shred of entertainment media these days is. But it was also superbly thoughtful. It represented the issues it tackled fairly, honestly, and thoroughly. There were NO straw men, which is, as I think about it, probably the most remarkable thing I've seen in anything remotely political for...well, I can't remember.

Oh hey, wanna know what the show's about? Short answer: It's 30 Rock, but an hour long, smarter, and more of a drama than a comedy. Don't know what 30 Rock is? Long(er) answer: A show about a show like SNL, but fictional. It's about the writers, producers, and actors in that show, with very little shown from the (fictional) show itself.

So there you go. I can't give a higher recommendation to a TV show. If you watch it, and it ends up being too esoteric, that's fine. You not liking it will in no way diminish my esteem for this incredible televised accomplishment.

Oh Yeah! That Terminator Movie

I realized with sudden horror today that I have completely neglected to post a post-watch review of Terminator Salvation.

Humph.

When a movie gets 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, I necessarily go into it with low expectations. It was hugely disappointing to discover, one week early, that the film was getting such bad reviews. My worst fears, it seemed, were actualizing themselves in the most anti-climactic way.

Still, finding out the film won't be much good before actually going to see it is better than the bitter agony I was sure to sustain without the warning.

Conclusion? Well...I guess it wasn't that bad.

Crap! What was the point? It was supposed to be GREAT. What does it matter if it wasn't "that bad," which, incidentally, is about the language this film evoked from the most positive of its many reviews. What a complete waste.

I gave McG a chance. Sure, the only memorable thing he had directed before this project was Charlie's Angels (and Full Throttle...yep), but give the guy a break, right? I mean, Hollywood is tough stuff. It's hard to get good material as a commercial director.

He even said this to Bale. [I paraphrase] "This is my big break. C'mon, let me prove myself, Christian. I can DO this! Trust me..."

Well, he did. And since Christian Bale trusted him, so did a gaggle of other talented actors and filmmakers. Jonathan Nolan wrote a script that could have been made to sing, I believe, in better hands. But it was in McG's talentless hands that it was given life. And so people say it was poorly written. It wasn't. Sure, the writing could have been better, but it could have been much, MUCH worse. (See: Wolverine)

So how do I know? You can know that a film was directed poorly when the following things are true: The cinematography was beautiful; the cast was enormously talented; the writing was good enough to keep the audience from laughing at the wrong places; there was no shortage of cash (never once you cross that magical $100M mark); the movie still sort of sucked.

The thing that was so wrong with this film was the same thing that was so incredibly, brilliantly right with Star Trek. Pacing. The highs, lows, and emotional tone of each scene need to fit together in a somewhat mystical way to make the whole machine of the film...work. In the new Trek film, the audience was never lost. The emotional and kinetic tone and speed of the film was pretty much perfect all the way through. It worked as the ideal thrill-ride.

But Terminator loses its audience over and over again. The emotional tone almost never seems quite right. Why is he yelling so loud right now? Why do they seem like they're not sure what's going on? Wait, she loves him?

Everything is arbitrary. One scene tacked on right after the other. By the end, I noticed something very tragic: I didn't care at all. That, my good friends, is the kiss of death for any film.

As for McG, I think I've got him pegged. He's the poor man's Michael Bay. As for the magnitude of that insult...well, you either get it or you don't, I suppose.

Anyway, if any of YOU saw it, let me know what you thought.

Dragged Up (Plus, a Blogging Plan)

Two short reviews:

1. Up was grand. The opening sequence was sheer, unmitigated brilliance, and the rest of it was warm, funny, entertaining, and memorable. Pixar is what every other multi-billion dollar production company should be: Endlessly talented, good-hearted, and shamelessly unsatisfied with anything less than greatness. Pixar will fill my children's shelves with great works of cinematic art.

Go see Up. It hasn't been, and still is not fair to think of this film as a "for kids" movie. You know the kind. Movies with talking animals and formulaic, predictable plots. Preachy, stupid movies that are immediately forgettable and probably make the kids to whom they speak dumber with each viewing. Up, in true Pixar form, is a movie "the whole family can enjoy." It's about an old man who attaches tens of thousands of balloons to his house and floats to South America. And it has a fat little boy trying to earn merit badges. There are, in short, no reasons not to see this film.

2. I went to see Drag Me to Hell last night. I'm not a horror movie kind of person. The genre is typically replete with the kind of pornographic violence and gratuitous sex that mature adults (one of which I hope to eventually become) should routinely and gleefully avoid. But then it was rated PG-13, which means that the sex and violence would necessarily be truncated at least to some degree, and then it got over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. And it starred Alison Lohman (Matchstick Men, Big Fish, White Oleander), who I sort of love very much.

So I saw it. And it was silly. And stupid. And gross. And really, really fun. Of course, it helps to have a delightful, attractive girl clinging to you during the scary parts. But even if I hadn't been fortunate enough to be in that particular circumstance, I'm sure I would have had a good time.

ALRIGHT.

As far as this lil' blog goes, I think I've decided, finally, how I want this thing to run (this may not mean much--I have a bad habit of gross inconsistency when it comes to blogging, but...anyway).

There will be a new post every Monday and Friday for sure. Wednesdays will be up in the air. I may or may not post. But you can put money on Mondays and Fridays (please do not use actual money).

Also, I update Lasers, Bagels, and Other Abstractions fairly regularly, so check that one out when you get a chance. It's fun, I promise. I refuse to set a schedule for it, though, since I think that would fly in the face of its principles (yes, it has its own.)

Go, Mitt, Go

I still love Mitt Romney. I'm hoping to death that he runs for president again. That way, I'll have someone I can confidently vote for.

Watch this, it's good:

Israel, I'm still on your side

If you know all about the United States' relationship with Israel, and their role in the Middle East conflict, skip the next two paragraphs.

America and Israel are powerful allies. Both countries maintain a strong political and moral stance of freedom, tolerance, and power. Israel may best be thought of as the "America of the Middle East." They are the most powerful, most free, and most hated country in that part of the world. In fact, they are fast becoming one of the most hated countries (right behind America) in the entire world. It is now progressively acceptable to hate Jews again--at least, as long as they're from Israel. Why? Because when people scream loud enough and long enough, they can gain false legitimacy. So the nations surrounding Israel publish, uniformly, hateful lies about her, and eventually the rest of the world starts to believe them. So we think, somehow, someway, Israel must be doing something wrong. Else why all the sound and fury?

But America has been different. We've stood by them, rejecting the lies of their barbaric neighbors and helping Israel to protect herself from her enemies. Israel is a nation that is constantly, precariously close to total extinction. Not a few of their neighbors are openly in favor of violently disposing of every Jew in the Middle East. So Israel has had to maintain an incredibly powerful military to strike fear into the hearts of its blood-frenzied enemies. If not for that military force, we would no longer be speaking of Israel in the present tense.

I said America has been different. Unfortunately, the liberal party now runs the show, and they have been chafing under our support of Israel for quite some time. What do we say now?

First of all, Obama has finally gotten around to announcing that we will no longer be selling weapons and military equipment to Israel. How nice of us. Maybe now they'll learn to stop being so...defensive all the time. If there's one thing wrong with Israel it's that it has too many weapons. It makes terrorist organizations like Hezbollah so much less effective at killing Jews. Whatever we can do to change the dynamic a little... I mean, we don't want to be enablers, right? Put down your guns, you stupid Jews--er--Israelites! How is it that they still don't understand: the only reason Iran and Palestine and Egypt and Lebanon and Syria want to kill them is because the silly Jews keep trying to protect themselves from complete annihilation?

But it gets better.

The U.S. State Department demands that Israel limit Jewish growth in these areas of Jerusalem, “whose status remains to be determined” in negotiations.

Well. I don't even know where to start. First of all, what does "whose status remains to be determined" mean? Easy. That's softspeak for: "land we want to be able to give to your blood-thirsty neighbors sometime in the future."

Secondly, who is demanding this? I'm sorry, the U.S. State Department? What are we, their parents? Here's where Israel proves it's government is now, officially, much smarter than ours:

Israeli Government Press Director Daniel Seamen reacted to this Obama administration statement by saying: “I have to admire the residents of Iroquois territory for assuming that they have a right to determine where Jews should live in Jerusalem.”

This is what is happening. We are playing parent right now. We shouldn't be--we should be playing spouse to Israel, disciplining the manic, violent, unreasonable neighboring governments. But we're playing parent to all of them. Israel is the mature, sober, even-tempered child. Iran (representing all of the other children) is the spoiled, unmannered, sadistic nightmare child who throws tantrums often and quite effectively. Iran will not behave. When we try to settle an argument between Israel and the Arab nations, promises are made and Israel keeps them. Then Hezbollah sends more bombs. Rinse, repeat. What is our reaction? We default on getting Israel to make concessions. We've stopped expecting the other countries to follow through or agree to anything, so we demand that Israel do it all. Whatever the brat wants--give it to 'em. We can't handle this, Israel, just give us more of your land. Reduce your military. Stop breeding. Stop existing, for heaven's sake, can't you see how it angers the other children?

Israel will only stomach so much of this. It's almost certain that they've given up on us as allies. They'll survive by violence or be destroyed--all within the next handful of years--and we've earned a nice fat helping of blame.

I'm a little sick to my stomach right now, if you'll excuse me.

***It's been brought to my attention that I failed to provide sources at first publishing this post. I normally never pull quotes without citing the source (via hotlink), but this time I forgot before I published, and I want to formally apologize. However, I will not be citing the sources of all of my opinions, nor will I typically spend a lot of effort defending the things I believe. If anything in this or any other post on my blog offends you, I make no apology, though you are, of course and as always, free to ignore anything I say.

I LIKE Cheney

I had a bunch of other posts in the works---all saved as drafts, so you'll see them soon enough. But today, my attention was completely caught in Dick Cheney's speech. This, my friends, is a good man with a bad name. There is no need for me to go into all of the terrible things people have said about him. He was one of the most universally hated men in this country for the last several years. On my own campus, BYU in UTAH (the only all-red state in the Union), there was an enraged outcry and protests when he was selected as the commencement speaker at graduation.

But say what you will about Dick Cheney, he does not care what people think about him. He speaks his mind more straightforwardly than any other politician I know of, and is less afraid of the consequences when people disagree with what he has to say. This total disregard for the opinions of other is actually the single strongest evidence that he's honest. I feel like I'm getting to know one of the only adults in politics.

So, you can find the entire transcript of the speech here, and I cannot recommend strongly enough that you read the entire thing. This is one of those rare speeches to which every American should be exposed. This is NON-PARTISAN stuff. Sure, Republicans are going to mostly agree with it, and Democrats are going to mostly be enraged by it, but it is not playing to any political base. Cheney is Cheney. Most people don't like him and he doesn't care.

These are some excerpts--I share them not to give you the most important highlights of the speech, but to try to convince you to read the whole thing:

When President Obama makes wise decisions, as I believe he has done in some respects on Afghanistan, and in reversing his plan to release incendiary photos, he deserves our support. And when he faults or mischaracterizes the national security decisions we made in the Bush years, he deserves an answer. The point is not to look backward. Now and for years to come, a lot rides on our President’s understanding of the security policies that preceded him. And whatever choices he makes concerning the defense of this country, those choices should not be based on slogans and campaign rhetoric, but on a truthful telling of history.

...

So we’re left to draw one of two conclusions – and here is the great dividing line in our current debate over national security. You can look at the facts and conclude that the comprehensive strategy has worked, and therefore needs to be continued as vigilantly as ever. Or you can look at the same set of facts and conclude that 9/11 was a one-off event – coordinated, devastating, but also unique and not sufficient to justify a sustained wartime effort. Whichever conclusion you arrive at, it will shape your entire view of the last seven years, and of the policies necessary to protect America for years to come.

...

By presidential decision, last month we saw the selective release of documents relating to enhanced interrogations. This is held up as a bold exercise in open government, honoring the public’s right to know. We’re informed, as well, that there was much agonizing over this decision.

Yet somehow, when the soul-searching was done and the veil was lifted on the policies of the Bush administration, the public was given less than half the truth. The released memos were carefully redacted to leave out references to what our government learned through the methods in question. Other memos, laying out specific terrorist plots that were averted, apparently were not even considered for release. For reasons the administration has yet to explain, they believe the public has a right to know the method of the questions, but not the content of the answers.

Over on the left wing of the president’s party, there appears to be little curiosity in finding out what was learned from the terrorists. The kind of answers they’re after would be heard before a so-called “Truth Commission.” Some are even demanding that those who recommended and approved the interrogations be prosecuted, in effect treating political disagreements as a punishable offense, and political opponents as criminals. It’s hard to imagine a worse precedent, filled with more possibilities for trouble and abuse, than to have an incoming administration criminalize the policy decisions of its predecessors.

...

In the category of euphemism, the prizewinning entry would be a recent editorial in a familiar newspaper that referred to terrorists we’ve captured as, quote, “abducted.” Here we have ruthless enemies of this country, stopped in their tracks by brave operatives in the service of America, and a major editorial page makes them sound like they were kidnap victims, picked up at random on their way to the movies.

...

The United States of America was a good country before 9/11, just as we are today. List all the things that make us a force for good in the world – for liberty, for human rights, for the rational, peaceful resolution of differences – and what you end up with is a list of the reasons why the terrorists hate America. If fine speech-making, appeals to reason, or pleas for compassion had the power to move them, the terrorists would long ago have abandoned the field. And when they see the American government caught up in arguments about interrogations, or whether foreign terrorists have constitutional rights, they don’t stand back in awe of our legal system and wonder whether they had misjudged us all along. Instead the terrorists see just what they were hoping for – our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted. In short, they see weakness and opportunity.

And there is much, much more.

I Want a Pet Like That

I discovered this animated short today, and I felt compelled to share. It's trippy and very cool. And the sound design is pretty incredible, it being a student film and all.

This one time... from nelson boles on Vimeo.

PS I found it on this blog, which is one that I follow pretty closely.