Bedazzled
This 1967 Stanley Donen comedy pulls off the feat of centering around a truly miserable character without ever feeling like a downer of a film. Stanley Moon (Dudley Moore) is a lonely short-order cook with a crush on a waitress at his diner who he's too shy to approach. The devil (or at least some vague devil incarnate) comes along, introduces himself (his name's George and he's played by Peter Cook) and grants him seven wishes in exchange for his soul.
Stanley promptly uses up one wish after another on Margaret and, because the devil is a trickster who can't be taken at face value, they all backfire. That's OK because Bedazzled isn't really a love story. Instead it's a meandering meditation of love, death, good and evil, and religious dogma that's imbued with an absurdist wry humor that only British comedy can do. In other words, the film feels a little aimless but that's part of the charm: Delving too deeply into romantic comedy territory would make the film feel hackneyed while delving entirely into religious politics would make the film feel preachy.
Marathon Man
Marathon Man is a Dustin Hoffman vehicle that stands as one of the best-known thrillers of the 1970's. Fitting into 1970's conventions to minimize on back story and to emphasize action (Brad Pitt, Bennett Miller, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney were all attracted to this style when they made Moneyball, Argo and Good Night and Good Luck respectively), the film is centered around the evolution of a relatively complex character but is primarily action-driven.
That relatively complex character is graduate student Thomas "Babe" Levy (Hoffman) whose remains haunted by his father's persecution and subsequent suicide as a result of the Red Scare. Seeking to enter into the same field of study as his father, Levy hopes to exonerate his father's work. The title of the film derives from the fact that "Babe" is a long-distance runner but if you assume that this is the "Prefontaine" or "Chariots of Fire" of the 1970's, be warned that this is not a running movie at all and a suspiciously minor plot point. The running scenes are reminiscent of the way French New Wave films juxtapose motifs (I'm thinking specifically of Breathless where the guy is shown looking at a picture and smoking a cigarette like the matinee idol he's trying to emulate) as an avant-garde way of providing characterization.
In the film's first hour, there's a twin narrative occurring alongside a love story between Babe and a fellow grad student that turns out to be nothing more than a red herring. In the other story, Roy Scheider plays "Doc" who turns out to be Babe's brother (apparently, the Levy clan had terrible taste in nicknames) and he's tracking an ex-Nazi dentist played by Laurence Olivier. Olivier's role and the presence he brings to that role (it was the final of his 10 Oscar nominations) provide the film with its most memorable moments. People might not know the plot details of Marathon Man but many are familiar with the dentist's torture scene as well as his "is it safe?" monologue.
Similarly, that's how I felt about the film: I'll remember the film's overall tone (very dark for a Dustin Hoffman film) and a handful of moments such as Olivier's torture scene, the sewer scene, the drag race, and the reveal that Doc is Babe's brother (Scheider's character is a very enigmatic figure and his involvement in the story goes without an explanation for what I'm guessing is an hour). The plot is highly dense and takes a couple of viewings to really grasp and even then there's a feeling of discomfort of blanks left unfilled. You might call them plot holes (i.e. how exactly did a traffic hold-up turn into a drag race filled with murderous rage and what are the odds that a tanker would be there?) but it seems like a certain story convention that's seemingly being emulated by the biggest names in Hollywood today. I felt a similar disconnect from The French Connection which is another film of great praise that I seem to be in the minority on.
Rather than end this review with a conclusive statement on what was wrong or right about the film, I'll ask other people who have seen it to explain the film's appeal.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Tuesday, February 04, 2014
Don't hail Brooklyn Nine Nine as the future of comedy yet: Straight-Man-Funny Man Dichotomy
Brooklyn Nine Nine is starting to get a little bit of critical steam now that it won the Golden Globe for best comedy.
Erik Adams at the AV Club just posted an article: Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn't TV's best comedy---But It's Getting there. In an effort to stop the critical Brooklyn Nine Nine train from turning into a massive bandwagon, I'm going to put my foot in the ring and caution other critics to praise it as the next big thing just yet. I previously included Brooklyn Nine Nine on my 2013 list of shows that didn't measure up and I'll expand upon it here.
First, let's talk about the Golden Globes:
Anyone who uses the Golden Globes as a barometer for critical temperature should note that the Hollywood Foreign Press is composed of some 90-odd part-time journalists who only have the illusion of importance. The only reason anyone pays attention to them is because they finangled their way to a TV deal with NBC in the early 1960's (a contract that was dropped from 1968-1972 when the FCC questioned their voting procedures). If they line up with other awards, it's largely coincidence if you look at it statistically and in the case that the Golden Globes does something idiosyncratic, it should be taken as a fluke.
The Golden Globe nominees in the comedy film category have included Patch Adams, There's Something About Mary, The Tourist, Alice in Wonderland (the Tim Burton version), Analyze This and Sydney Pollack's highly forgettable remake of Sabrina. No one else has followed suit in honoring any of those films and I suspect no one has even rented these films from
Adams also points out that it's rare for a show to dominate critical buzz early, but it's worth pointing out that 30 Rock (which really was a juggernaut in its first season), Arrested Development, Modern Family all won in their first year of Emmys eligibility, and the Office won in its second season after a first season that was just six episodes.
Now, let's talk about Brooklyn Nine Nine:
The show makes sense from a dollars-and-sense perspective. Andy Samberg is pretty hot coming off a highly visible 7-year SNL run and Mike Schur (Brooklyn Nine Nine's co-creator) was able to custom-cater a hit smash to ex-SNL cast member Amy Poehler's comic persona with "Parks and Recreation."
The problem with trying to do the same for Andy Samberg is that Samberg was never a particularly capable live performer (a decent impressionist at times, I admit) and that capturing lightning in a bottle for Samberg would involve taking over a great deal of Samberg's highly off-beat wackiness with him. To try to put Samberg into any sort of straight sitcom is problematic from the start.
On top of that, Schur chose to make Samberg a cop, and not just a cop, but a homicide detective. Why they picked the most clichéd setting in TV show history as a vehicle for a comic actor who no one would ever picture as a police detective is beyond me.
Samberg is wacky beyond compare here and lacks a straight man to balance him out.
A straight-funny man dichotomy requires someone grounded in reality which is ironic because Greg Daniels and Mike Schur's first two series (The Office and Parks and Recreation) were known for their hyper-reality.
Take the example of 30 Rock:
Liz Lemmon is the straight man to everyone except in episodes where Tina is going a little bit off the rails and then Pete Hornberger acts as her straight man. As evidence of this, in episodes that don't feature Liz's neuroses, Pete has noticeably less screen time.
30 Rock tends to isolate their demented characters (the ubervain Tracy/Jenna duo, the ubermoral country bumpkin Kenneth, and the ubersnob Jack) and play them off the straight man. That doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't plenty of Tracy/Kenneth interactions but it means that the form of bizarreness is happening in isolation. When Tracy and Jenna are being self-centered showbiz type, it's usually countered with a strong balance by Liz or Pete reacting to Tracy and Jenna as if they're behavior is bizarre. Similarly, Liz (especially in Season 1) is highly stressed out by Jack because he's a bizarre boss making bizarre requests (like that episode where he misleads her into thinking he needs a great joke that night because he's wearing a tuxedo) is another example of bizarreness in isolation played against a straight man. In short, the straight-man-funny-man dichotomy on 30 Rock is one of very sharp contrasts (from 3 different sources) which is used to good effect.
Back to Brooklyn Nine Nine:
In Brooklyn Nine Nine, we have one character acting really bizarrely for a police detective rather than having a sharp contrast between him and the rest of the world, various characters like Boyle cheering him on and adding one liners on top of the mix, and characters like Diaz and Santiago who join in sometimes and are sometimes dismissive of him for being an immature man-child. Boyle, in particular, is troubled, because he occupies an odd middle ground between class clown wannabe, shy guy, and straight man.
In short, there isn't a good distinction between the clowns and the straight men in this cast. Andre Braughter's character, Ray Holt, is a very grave and stern man. He almost works but a straight man isn't about being gravely serious to the point that where your grave seriousness is a comic trait.
A straight man, rather, is about bouncing off the funny in a way that establishes a comic baseline. Even if Holt were a perfect foil, so many of the characters are wacky, that it doesn't work. If we were to take Holt seriously, he'd have fired well over half the staff by the third episode which runs into the problem that we'd no longer have a show.
On top of that, we'd have Chelsea Peretti who's a brilliant cloud cuckoolander in that she's so bizarre but she doesn't mesh well with the rest of the cast. The upside is that Peretti would kill on any other show with that character and I look forward to seeing that happen if this show gets cancelled.
What's the net effect of this? Som might point out that even if there's not a good straight man, characters are still saying funny things and since we're all still laughing, isn't that the point of a comedy? I'd argue it renders any attempt at pathos or sentimentality ineffective because I'm taken out of the realism completely which keeps it from being a show who's characters I want to follow week in and week out.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Journalism FAQs: Where do you get your stories from?
A common question I get is "where do you get your stories from?" The short answer to that is 1) sometimes the newspaper gives stories to me and 2) sometimes I am responsible for pitching my own stories. Each outlet has its own system of doing things and in my experience, the best publications use a mix of both options with their freelance reporters: Not allowing your reporters to add their own story ideas into the mix deprives yourself of an untapped resource but you can retain and grow good reporters by giving them good stories.
From the reporter's perspective, option #2 allows you creativity but it can be exhausting and slow you down in terms of volume. I am more than capable of pitching my own stories but my creativity is a limiting factor in terms of volume: I can only produce so many story ideas and not all of those ideas successfully make it out on the other side of the pitching process so having assigned stories gives me more output.
In terms of where I get stories from, I have a few media lists I'm on (i.e. the Arlington Arts Museum, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, D.C. film office, National Building Museum), I crowdsource (ask friends, friends of friends, people who might know a lot about a certain field), and I occasionally go back to the well on something interesting I wrote before.
I also am not afraid of making a phone call. I once was writing something about the marketing of the film "Les Miserables" and rather than just look it up somewhere, I decided to try calling Warner Brothers Studios. It led to a number of story ideas.
It might sound hokey and cliched but my biggest piece of advice is to keep your ears open. There are often interesting things occurring in your vicinity as you go about your daily life. The difference between myself and a person who doesn't self-identify as a reporter is that if something interesting happens, a light bulb will go on in my head and I will go check it out. I have a business card on me so I can say "hey, I'm a reporter and this story interests me."
Often, this happens retroactively. I was driving down a highway and saw a motel that didn't anything like its neighbors and didn't think to actively go inside and find out why but several months later when I needed a story idea, I thought about that hotel.
I'm not saying that if you follow this advice, you'll leave your house tomorrow morning and a meteorite will land in front of your doorstep, but in my case, the first two thoughts that would go through my head if that happened would be "I wonder who might publish this" and "I wonder who would give me the best deal for it?"
I have been published in somewhere around 20 publications and have published between 100 and 150 stories (if you count school newspapers). In the next installment, I will discuss some of the specific stories I've written and where I got those story ideas from.
From the reporter's perspective, option #2 allows you creativity but it can be exhausting and slow you down in terms of volume. I am more than capable of pitching my own stories but my creativity is a limiting factor in terms of volume: I can only produce so many story ideas and not all of those ideas successfully make it out on the other side of the pitching process so having assigned stories gives me more output.
In terms of where I get stories from, I have a few media lists I'm on (i.e. the Arlington Arts Museum, Arlington Chamber of Commerce, D.C. film office, National Building Museum), I crowdsource (ask friends, friends of friends, people who might know a lot about a certain field), and I occasionally go back to the well on something interesting I wrote before.
I also am not afraid of making a phone call. I once was writing something about the marketing of the film "Les Miserables" and rather than just look it up somewhere, I decided to try calling Warner Brothers Studios. It led to a number of story ideas.
It might sound hokey and cliched but my biggest piece of advice is to keep your ears open. There are often interesting things occurring in your vicinity as you go about your daily life. The difference between myself and a person who doesn't self-identify as a reporter is that if something interesting happens, a light bulb will go on in my head and I will go check it out. I have a business card on me so I can say "hey, I'm a reporter and this story interests me."
Often, this happens retroactively. I was driving down a highway and saw a motel that didn't anything like its neighbors and didn't think to actively go inside and find out why but several months later when I needed a story idea, I thought about that hotel.
I'm not saying that if you follow this advice, you'll leave your house tomorrow morning and a meteorite will land in front of your doorstep, but in my case, the first two thoughts that would go through my head if that happened would be "I wonder who might publish this" and "I wonder who would give me the best deal for it?"
I have been published in somewhere around 20 publications and have published between 100 and 150 stories (if you count school newspapers). In the next installment, I will discuss some of the specific stories I've written and where I got those story ideas from.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
2013 Best Picture Nominees Update
The Oscar class of 2013 is Her, Captain Phillips, American Hustle, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Nebraska, Wolf of Wall Street, and 12 Years a Slave. Here's an updated list of who's appeared in 3 or more Best Picture contenders:
9 Robert De Niro-Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, The Mission, Awakenings, Goodfellas, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle
7 Tom Hanks-Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Green Mile, Toy Story 3, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Captain Phillips
7 Leonardo DiCaprio-Titanic, Gangs of New York, Aviator, Departed, Inception, Django Unchained, Wolf of Wall Street
6 Ed Harris-The Right Stuff, Places in the Heart, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, The Hours, Gravity
6 Brad Pitt-Babel, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Inglourious Basterds, Tree of Life, Moneyball, 12 Years a Slave
6 George Clooney-Thin Red Line, Good Night and Good Luck, Michael Clayton, Up in the Air, Descendants, Gravity
5 Rance Howard-Chinatown, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon, Nebraska
4 Michael Pena-Million Dollar Baby, Crash, Babel, American Hustle
4 Sandra Bullock-Crash, The Blind Side, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Gravity
4 Judi
Dench-Room with a View, Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat, Philomena
3 Bruce Dern-Coming Home, Django Unchained, Nebraska
3 Christine Ebersole-Tootsie, Amadeus, Wolf of Wall Street
3 Paul Giamatti-Saving Private Ryan, Sideways, 12 Years a Slave
3 Jonah Hill-Moneyball, Django Unchained, Wolf of Wall Street
3 Jonah Hill-Moneyball, Django Unchained, Wolf of Wall Street
3 Amy Adams-Fighter, American Hustle, Her
3 Kyle Chandler-Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, Wolf of Wall Street
3 Chris Pratt-Moneyball, Zero Dark Thirty, Her
3 Paul Dano-Little Miss Sunshine, There Will be Blood, 12 Years a Slave
3 Dennis O'Hare-Michael Clayton, Milk, Dallas Buyers ClubAlso, if you want to know the past Oscar nominations of this year's Oscar class they are: Coming Home, Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer, French Lieutenant's Wife, Sophie's Choice, Silkwood, Out of Africa, Iron Weed, Evil Eyes, Steel Magnolias, Pretty Woman, Postcards from the Edge, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Bridges of Madison County, Mrs. Brown, Elizabeth, One True Thing, Music of the Heart, Chocolat, Erin Brockovich, Adaptation, Aviator (2), Mrs Henderson Presents, Junebug, Notes on a Scandal (2), Blood Diamond, Devil Wears Prada, I'm Not There, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Doubt (2), Blind Side, The Fighter (2), Winter's Bone, Moneyball, Silver Linings Playbook (2), and The Master
Can you guess which actors earned which nominations?
I've seen four of these films so far and find them all innovative enough to merit the title "Best Picture Nominee." My capsule reviews on them:
American Hustle: American Hustle is a film that's suave and stylized while simultaneously having some fun (particularly with Irving's hair) deglamorizing itself.
Some might complain that the plot is convoluted, but I found the plot to be a red herring to explore more complex themes about identity, transience, and the pursuit of wealth. The fact that Bradley Cooper's character was constantly changing his game plan and ultimately didn't really know what he was after (which brought about his doom) was a telling indication of that theory.
With a plot that was secondary to the complex web of betrayal and ambition, the film was the perfect excuse for its cast to flex their acting chops, and the film earning four acting nominations (David O. Russell films amassing 11 acting nominations in a 4-year period, which I'm pretty sure is a record) is no small coincidence. Amy Adams and Christian Bale give career best performances.
Whether the film is thematically muddled or has any sort of grand message anchoring it are certainly up for debate, but that's a debate I see great merit in: I easily found the film to be the most thought-provoking of the year.
Captain Phillips: Paul Greengrass, Tom Hanks, and the production rights for the most recent topical news story of heroism seems like a can't-miss proposition and there's nothing disappointing about it. The film doesn't necessarily overtly deliver on its ambitions (if you believe whomever wrote Sony Pictures' press release) to be a "complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization" with a couple conversations about the alternative lives the pirates could have chosen that didn't really resonate. Still, the film is an effective and emotionally resonant thriller with what seems like painstaking authenticity and that's pretty darn good. A major asset of this film is the casting of four Somalis with no prior acting experience to play the four Somali pirates which terrorized the real Captain Phillips. Barkhad Abdi deservedly got nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the head pirate. The story's pacing is also ideal for a docudrama of this sort with very little unnecessary back story and a near-perfect stopping point.
Gravity: I expected to see Gravity as the Apollo 13 of our era: A story about NASA and space exploration that inspired a new wave of kids to go to Space Camp. The more I think about it, the more I see Gravity as the Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey come to mind: A movie-going experience that pushed the capacities of the medium technologically to the point where it was something audiences had simply never seen before. In comparison to the last big attempt to revolutionize 3-D cinema-going, Avatar, Cuaron showed you don't need to create an elaborate visual world. Cuaron's film is minimal like 12 Angry Men or Cast Away set in space. The only other on-screen actor, George Clooney mercifully (as he is one of my least favorite actors) disappears 30 minutes into the film and it's just Sandra Bullock and the void of space to fill in the time. The film also packs emotional punch in Bullock's arc that one might not expect out of a film in this format.
Her: Some of the best comic performances (Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot, Christopher Guest, David Cross in Arrested Development, Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove) come from people playing their parts as seriously as possible. In that same vein, Spike Jonze chose to play a rather absurd premise for a love story as straight as possible and it works really well. The love story is set in what first appears to be a depressing, almost dystopic, future where technology has taken over people's lives, but the excitement of the film is how this satirical overlay doesn't take away from the love story. The first twenty minutes of the film show Ted (Joaquin Phoenix) as a depressed and lonely figure with strong suggestions that his overreliance on technology is what's keeping him from interacting with humans. The film, curiously, seems to ease up on this pretense as Ted's romance with his phone is set alongside his coworker's romance with a fellow human and a blind date (Olivia Wilde) that seems to at least have the potential to go well (it ultimately doesn't). Eventually, it's revealed that Ted isn't locked in a hellish world where his only hope for companionship is a machine, which is what makes the love story worthwhile: Ted doesn't have to be with a machine but he slowly is won over by her.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Annual thank you to friends of my blog
For the third year in a row, I'm going to pretend like I just won an Oscar for blog-writing and deliver an annoyingly long thank you speech:
First off, I'd like to thank a wonderful young copy editor named Edison Russ who has helped me out through the severest cases of writers block and crisizes ovrer how To spell, weed out typous abd capitzalize (see how much my sentences fall apart without Edison?) I'm not sure what Edison's employment status is but some employer out there is sorely missing out by not snatching up Edison.
I want to thank all the big people out there in the world of TV and film criticism who take time to throw me some love in the twitterverse. Will Harris, a fellow Virginian writer, has the supercool job of interviewing C-level stars (the best kind) for the random roles feature of the AV Club. Has been open with advice and managed to fake being impressed when I showed him my list of famous people I interviewed. Daniel T. Walters is kind of a big deal on Twitter and in the world of TV writing with the Pacific Northwest Inlander and has occasionally given me feedback in 140 characters or less and I accidentally omitted him in the last two editions. Sorry Daniel and thanks for the support. There is also someone out there named Emily Nussbaum who writes brilliant pieces for the New Yorker and is quite generous with us little people when it comes to distirbuting the love on Twitter.
I'd also like to thank a writer named David Simms for being a good sport. I once randomly decided to pick someone at the AV Club and repeatedly campaign for them as a follower so thanks David and a big thank you to Kenny Herzog for actually following me.
I'd like to thank Cory Barker for putting me on a round table and want to congratulate him as well as two other twitter acquaintances Noel Kirkpatrick and Les Chappell on becoming professional TV writers in the past year as well as on the success of their new site "This was TV."
Christine Becker is a Professor of TV and film studies at Notre Dame and she is so full of support and advice, I'm pretty sure I will be needing to pay student tuition fees at Notre Dame.
There's also Matt Zoller Seitz who recently took over as the head critic for Roger Ebert and he's tweeted a couple of my posts for his audience and was very complimentary. Knowing that he might be reading encourages me to try to write something amazing.
I'd also like to thank a certain PR person at CollegeHumor named Jaime. The first thing I said to her when she called and I heard her voice was female was "So now the mystery is solved over whether you're a Hispanic man or a woman" and rather than hang up the phone, she kept talking to me and let me interview some famous people that I can add to my "famous people I interviewed" list. My communication with Jaime this past year has probably totaled more minutes than any other professional correspondence which Jaime probably is unhappy about so hopefully this makes up for that.
I'd also like to thank Ben Relles the head of Barely Political for being generous with my interview as well as Sam Reich of CollegeHumor for hearing my script idea over the course of our interview and not telling me it sucked. I also would like to thank all the people who cooperated with me on interviews this year: This year I got to interview an expert on the Nazi party in Arlington, a puzzle maker, an SNL auditionee who now imitates Mary-Kate Olsen for a living, two major heads of production in the internet world, a group of DIY bike collective owners, a food cart owner illegally operating on the streets of Arlington, a Jewish boy scout troop, a hand-crafted violin maker, a collector of Pez dispensers, the owner of a historic cemetery, a 36-year veteran of the CIA on the TV show "The Americans", the Arlington County Assistant Manager, the staff at Americana Hotel in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, and a bunch of people in Arlington who claim to have seen coyotes.
[The orchestra is pushing me off the stage but I must keep going]
Some miscellaneous thank yous:
I'd like to thank my former editor at the Connection, Steven, for continuing to give me advice and counsel me, I'd like to thank Eddie "Mr Puma" Rodriguez for his belief that I might eventually get back into Cracked's good graces and being awesome in general (I don't remember if Eddie has a site of his own, but I remember he has some mad editing skills and he can be found here). Also, a thank you to Kathy Benjamin at Cracked for giving advice and giving me a recommendation for Mental Floss Magazine. She has a great book out right now. Meg Miller Reydzewski also helped me as a freelancer for ArlNow with coordinating a lot of information. If I'm not mistaken Meg has a book out so everyone buy that immediately once they figure out the name of it. Also, Jason Iannone has made the quality of articles at TopTenz.net a lot better through some great editing and also gave it to me straight when I needed an intervention so thanks for that buddy. And a little thanks to a user on twitter named @AdmiralChristy who gave me a little reading when I needed it most today.
Speaking of editors, I'd like to thank all the editors who've given me a place to publish (to avoid muddling their digital foot prints, I'll just give first names). Some of you have a sense of confidence in me that means a lot, some of you make me work hard for my stories, some of you are insightful and collaborate with me in a way that's a lot of fun, some of you are pleasantly down-to-earth, but you all have one thing in common: Giving me money to write stories, which is pretty heroic of all of you:
Philippa at The Pink Line Project, Steve at Nostalgia Digest (check out See You on the Radio), Jenny at Arlington Magazine, Scott at Arlington Sun Gazette, Adrienne at Teaching Tolerance, Alexandra at Washington City Paper, Shell at TopTenz.net, the ever-so-patient Brendan at CBS ManCave, Jason at Mental Floss Magazine, Scott at Arl Now, David at Reel SEO, Cindy at Richmond Times Dispatch, and last but not least, Tina at Richmond Style-Weekly. Would you believe these are all actual newspapers and that I'm in all of them (technically all but one this calendar year)? I would not have guessed that as recently as 2012.
And thank you to all the people who rejected me too: The internet commenters who tell me I suck and are frustrated to see me continue being published need some form of validation and it's nice to know that you're there for them.
Stephanie Norton is a recent partner in crime of mine who has been on movie sets and worked with movie stars before landing in the D.C. area and she writes screenplays and does a bunch of stuff. She taught me a lot about social media and clearly knows what she's doing.
Thank you to John Lehr and Jay Martel for following me on Twitter. Are you sure it was me you wanted to follow? You guys make (pretty good) TV, I just write about it.
And lastly thank you to anyone who reads my blog and is forgiving of my lack of correct spelling because I just rattled off this entry on my cell phone and probably have a lot of misspellings in here including the names of the people I'm thanking.
For past editions, click on the tag "Friends of Blog"
First off, I'd like to thank a wonderful young copy editor named Edison Russ who has helped me out through the severest cases of writers block and crisizes ovrer how To spell, weed out typous abd capitzalize (see how much my sentences fall apart without Edison?) I'm not sure what Edison's employment status is but some employer out there is sorely missing out by not snatching up Edison.
I want to thank all the big people out there in the world of TV and film criticism who take time to throw me some love in the twitterverse. Will Harris, a fellow Virginian writer, has the supercool job of interviewing C-level stars (the best kind) for the random roles feature of the AV Club. Has been open with advice and managed to fake being impressed when I showed him my list of famous people I interviewed. Daniel T. Walters is kind of a big deal on Twitter and in the world of TV writing with the Pacific Northwest Inlander and has occasionally given me feedback in 140 characters or less and I accidentally omitted him in the last two editions. Sorry Daniel and thanks for the support. There is also someone out there named Emily Nussbaum who writes brilliant pieces for the New Yorker and is quite generous with us little people when it comes to distirbuting the love on Twitter.
I'd also like to thank a writer named David Simms for being a good sport. I once randomly decided to pick someone at the AV Club and repeatedly campaign for them as a follower so thanks David and a big thank you to Kenny Herzog for actually following me.
I'd like to thank Cory Barker for putting me on a round table and want to congratulate him as well as two other twitter acquaintances Noel Kirkpatrick and Les Chappell on becoming professional TV writers in the past year as well as on the success of their new site "This was TV."
Christine Becker is a Professor of TV and film studies at Notre Dame and she is so full of support and advice, I'm pretty sure I will be needing to pay student tuition fees at Notre Dame.
There's also Matt Zoller Seitz who recently took over as the head critic for Roger Ebert and he's tweeted a couple of my posts for his audience and was very complimentary. Knowing that he might be reading encourages me to try to write something amazing.
I'd also like to thank a certain PR person at CollegeHumor named Jaime. The first thing I said to her when she called and I heard her voice was female was "So now the mystery is solved over whether you're a Hispanic man or a woman" and rather than hang up the phone, she kept talking to me and let me interview some famous people that I can add to my "famous people I interviewed" list. My communication with Jaime this past year has probably totaled more minutes than any other professional correspondence which Jaime probably is unhappy about so hopefully this makes up for that.
I'd also like to thank Ben Relles the head of Barely Political for being generous with my interview as well as Sam Reich of CollegeHumor for hearing my script idea over the course of our interview and not telling me it sucked. I also would like to thank all the people who cooperated with me on interviews this year: This year I got to interview an expert on the Nazi party in Arlington, a puzzle maker, an SNL auditionee who now imitates Mary-Kate Olsen for a living, two major heads of production in the internet world, a group of DIY bike collective owners, a food cart owner illegally operating on the streets of Arlington, a Jewish boy scout troop, a hand-crafted violin maker, a collector of Pez dispensers, the owner of a historic cemetery, a 36-year veteran of the CIA on the TV show "The Americans", the Arlington County Assistant Manager, the staff at Americana Hotel in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, and a bunch of people in Arlington who claim to have seen coyotes.
[The orchestra is pushing me off the stage but I must keep going]
Some miscellaneous thank yous:
I'd like to thank my former editor at the Connection, Steven, for continuing to give me advice and counsel me, I'd like to thank Eddie "Mr Puma" Rodriguez for his belief that I might eventually get back into Cracked's good graces and being awesome in general (I don't remember if Eddie has a site of his own, but I remember he has some mad editing skills and he can be found here). Also, a thank you to Kathy Benjamin at Cracked for giving advice and giving me a recommendation for Mental Floss Magazine. She has a great book out right now. Meg Miller Reydzewski also helped me as a freelancer for ArlNow with coordinating a lot of information. If I'm not mistaken Meg has a book out so everyone buy that immediately once they figure out the name of it. Also, Jason Iannone has made the quality of articles at TopTenz.net a lot better through some great editing and also gave it to me straight when I needed an intervention so thanks for that buddy. And a little thanks to a user on twitter named @AdmiralChristy who gave me a little reading when I needed it most today.
Speaking of editors, I'd like to thank all the editors who've given me a place to publish (to avoid muddling their digital foot prints, I'll just give first names). Some of you have a sense of confidence in me that means a lot, some of you make me work hard for my stories, some of you are insightful and collaborate with me in a way that's a lot of fun, some of you are pleasantly down-to-earth, but you all have one thing in common: Giving me money to write stories, which is pretty heroic of all of you:
Philippa at The Pink Line Project, Steve at Nostalgia Digest (check out See You on the Radio), Jenny at Arlington Magazine, Scott at Arlington Sun Gazette, Adrienne at Teaching Tolerance, Alexandra at Washington City Paper, Shell at TopTenz.net, the ever-so-patient Brendan at CBS ManCave, Jason at Mental Floss Magazine, Scott at Arl Now, David at Reel SEO, Cindy at Richmond Times Dispatch, and last but not least, Tina at Richmond Style-Weekly. Would you believe these are all actual newspapers and that I'm in all of them (technically all but one this calendar year)? I would not have guessed that as recently as 2012.
And thank you to all the people who rejected me too: The internet commenters who tell me I suck and are frustrated to see me continue being published need some form of validation and it's nice to know that you're there for them.
Stephanie Norton is a recent partner in crime of mine who has been on movie sets and worked with movie stars before landing in the D.C. area and she writes screenplays and does a bunch of stuff. She taught me a lot about social media and clearly knows what she's doing.
Thank you to John Lehr and Jay Martel for following me on Twitter. Are you sure it was me you wanted to follow? You guys make (pretty good) TV, I just write about it.
And lastly thank you to anyone who reads my blog and is forgiving of my lack of correct spelling because I just rattled off this entry on my cell phone and probably have a lot of misspellings in here including the names of the people I'm thanking.
For past editions, click on the tag "Friends of Blog"
Director Progress Report
My bi-annual progress report for 2013 updated from the end of 2011. New additions in bold.
18 Alfred Hitchkock-Family Plot, Torn Curtain, Rebecca, 39 Steps, North by Northwest, Saboteur, The Wrong Man, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, Topaz, The Birds, Psycho, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much (both versions), Rear Window
14 Stephen Spielberg-Color Purple, Raiders of the Last Ark, Jurassic Park, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Schindler's List, Hook, ET, Jaws, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Saving Private Ryan
14 Woody Allen-Hollywood Ending, Curse of the Jaded Scorpion, Manhattan, Annie Hall, Small Time Crooks, Sweet and Lowdown, Mighty Aphrodite, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Melinda and Melinda, Midnight in Paris, Sleeper, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Bullets Over Broadway
10 Billy Wilder-Spirit of St. Louis, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Irma la Douce, Double Indemnity, Sabrina, Ace in the Hole, Major and the Minor, 1,2,3, The Front Page
9 Joel and Ethan Coen-Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Ladykillers, Man Who Knew Too Much, Intolerable Cruelty, Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading, True Grit
8 Martin Scorsesee-Color of Money, Age of Innocence, Goodfellas, Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York, Shutter Island, Hugo
8 Mike Nicholls-Primary Colors, The Birdcage, The Graduate, Working Girl, Charlie Wilson’s War, What Planet Are You From?, Postcards from the Edge, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff
8 Howard Hawks-Sgt. York, Bringing Up Baby, Big Sleep, Ball of Fire, Rio Bravo, His Girl Friday, Gentlemen Perfer Blondes, Monkey Business
8 Rob Zemeckis-Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future I-III, Contact, Romancing the Stone, Flight
7 (1/2) Clint Eastwood-Mystic River, Unforgiven, Bronco Billy, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Invictus, Gran Torino, White Heart, Lonely Hunter; (Trouble with the Curve) (Clint Eastwood wasn't credited as the director but some say he directed it)
7 Ivan Reitman- Ghostbusters, 6 Days 7 Days, Old School, Space Jam, Fathers Day, Beethoven, Beethoven’s 2nd
7 Rob Altman-Mash, McCabe and Mrs Miller, California Split, Buffalo Bill and the Indian, The Player, Dr. T and the Women, Prairie Home Companion
7 Steve Sodebergh-Erin Brockovitch, Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Full Frontal, Good German, Ocean’s 13, Informant
7 Vincente Minelli-Meet me in St Louis, American in Paris, The Pirate, Brigadoon, The Band Wagon, Kismet, Sandpiper
6 Mel Brooks-Spaceballs, High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, History of the World Part I
6 Frank Oz-Bowfinger, In and Out, Stepford Wives, The Score, What About Bob, Housesitter
6 Terry Gilliam-Time Bandits, Brazil, Fisher King, Monty Python, Brothers Grimm, Baron Muchenhausen
6 Barry Levinson-Tin Men, Rain Man, Sleepers, Good Morning Vietnam, Man of the Year, Wag the Dog
6 Peter Segal-Naked Gun 33 1/3, Tommy Boy, My Fellow Americans, 50 First Dates, Get Smart
6 Jay Roach-Austin Powers I-III, Meet the Parents, Mystery Alaska, Dinner for Schmucks
6 Tony Scott- Enemy of the State, Déjà Vu, Crimson Tide, Top Gun, Taking of Pelham 1,2,3; Unstoppable
6 Brett Ratner-After the Sunset, Rush Hour 2, Family Man, X-Men 3, Red Dragon, Tower Heist
6 Ron Howard-Apollo 13, Beautiful Mind, Da Vinci Code, Frost/Nixon, Angels and Demons, The Paper
6 Gore Verbinski-Pirates of the Carribean 1-3, Weatherman, The Mexican, Rango
6 Stanley Donen-Take Me Out to the Ballgame (most sources insist that he really was the director, not Bugsy Berkley), On the Town, Singing in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Charade, Bedazzled
5 George Lucas-Star Wars I-IV, American Graffiti
5 Tom Shadyac-Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, Patch Adams, Evan Allmighty, Ace Ventura
5 Sydney Pollack-Sabrina, Out of Africa, Tootsie, The Interpreter, Slender Thread
5 Joel Schumaker-Time to Kill, 8 MM, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, The Client
5 Orson Welles-Citizen Kane, Lady of Shanghai, Othello, Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil
5 Bryan Singer-Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2, Superman Returns, Valkyrie
5 John Glenn-5 Bond films
5 Johnothan Demme-Silence of the Lambs, Melvin and Howard, Manchurian Candidate, Married to the Mob, Rachel Getting Married
5 Tim Burton-Batman, Batman Returns, Ed Wood, Charlie and the Chocolate Factor, Alice in Wonderland
5 Roland Emmerich-ID4, Stargate, The Patriot, Day After Tomorrow, 2012
5 Robert Rodriguez-El Mariachi Trilogy, Spy Kids and Lava Girl, Sin City
5 Peter Weir-Witness, Dead Poet’s Society, The Truman Show, Master and Commander,Year of Living Dangerously
5 Rob Reiner-Stand and Deliver, Princess Bride, Rumor Has It, American President, Ghosts of Mississippi
5 Curtis Hanson- LA Confidential, Wonderboys, In Her Shoes, Lucky You, 8 Mile
5 Cameron Crowe-Almost Famous, Jerry MaGuire, Vanilla Sky, Elizabethtown, We Bought a Zoo
5 Chris Columbus-Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Stepmom, I Love You Beth Cooper
5 Barry Sonnenfeld-Men in Black I, II, Wild Wild West, Big Trouble, MiB III
5 John Lynn-Whole Nine Yards, Trial and Error, Sgt Bilko, Trial and Error, My Cousin Vinny
5 Peter and Bobby Farrelly-Kingpin, Dumb and Dumber, Fever Pitch, Shallow Hal, Osmosis Jones
5 John Lasseter-Lady and the Tramp, Toy Story 1, Cars, Toy Story 2, Cars 2
5 Blake Edwards-A Shot in the Dark, Pink Panther, Return of the Pink Panther, Great Race, What Did You Do in the War Daddy
5 John Ford-Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Hurricane, How Green was my Valley, The Whole Town's Talking
4 Sidney Lumet: Network, 12 Angry Men, Murder on the Orient Express, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
4 John Huston-Beat the Devil, Key Largo, African Queen, Man Who Would be King
4 Terrence Young-Wait Until Dark, 3 Bond films
4 Harold Lloyd-Safety Last, Feet First, The Freshman, Kid Brother
4 Guy Hamilton-4 Bond movies
4 Kevin Smith-Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Dogma
4 D. Herek-Mr. Holland’s Opus, Three Musketeers, Mighty Ducks, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures
4 Wes Anderson-Rushmore, Royal Tannenbaums, The Life Aquatic, Darjeerling Limited
4 Penny Marshall-Awakenings, Rennisance Man, Big, League of their Own
4 Ernst Lubitsch-Shop Around the Corner, Ninotchka, Merry Widow, Trouble in Paradise
4 Lasse Holstrom-What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Hoax, Cider House Rules, Shipping News
4 James Mangold-3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Kate and Leopold, Night and Day
4 Dennis Dungan-Happy Gilmore, Beverly Hills Ninja, Big Daddy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
4 Sam Weisman-George of the Jungle, Dickie Roberts Former Child Star, Out-of Towners, Mighty Ducks 2
4 Christopher Guest-For Your Consideration, Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman
4 Jon Favreau-Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Cowboys and Aliens
4 Adam McKay: Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, The Other Guys
4 David Lean-Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Passage to India, Summertime
4 Michael Moore-Roger and Me, F 411, Sicko, Capitalism: A Love Story
4 Sam Raimi-Spiderman 1-3, Oz: The Great and Powerful
4 Chris Nolan-Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises, Inception
18 Alfred Hitchkock-Family Plot, Torn Curtain, Rebecca, 39 Steps, North by Northwest, Saboteur, The Wrong Man, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, Topaz, The Birds, Psycho, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much (both versions), Rear Window
14 Stephen Spielberg-Color Purple, Raiders of the Last Ark, Jurassic Park, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Schindler's List, Hook, ET, Jaws, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Saving Private Ryan
14 Woody Allen-Hollywood Ending, Curse of the Jaded Scorpion, Manhattan, Annie Hall, Small Time Crooks, Sweet and Lowdown, Mighty Aphrodite, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Melinda and Melinda, Midnight in Paris, Sleeper, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Bullets Over Broadway
10 Billy Wilder-Spirit of St. Louis, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Irma la Douce, Double Indemnity, Sabrina, Ace in the Hole, Major and the Minor, 1,2,3, The Front Page
9 Joel and Ethan Coen-Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Ladykillers, Man Who Knew Too Much, Intolerable Cruelty, Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading, True Grit
8 Martin Scorsesee-Color of Money, Age of Innocence, Goodfellas, Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York, Shutter Island, Hugo
8 Mike Nicholls-Primary Colors, The Birdcage, The Graduate, Working Girl, Charlie Wilson’s War, What Planet Are You From?, Postcards from the Edge, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff
8 Howard Hawks-Sgt. York, Bringing Up Baby, Big Sleep, Ball of Fire, Rio Bravo, His Girl Friday, Gentlemen Perfer Blondes, Monkey Business
8 Rob Zemeckis-Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future I-III, Contact, Romancing the Stone, Flight
7 (1/2) Clint Eastwood-Mystic River, Unforgiven, Bronco Billy, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Invictus, Gran Torino, White Heart, Lonely Hunter; (Trouble with the Curve) (Clint Eastwood wasn't credited as the director but some say he directed it)
7 Ivan Reitman- Ghostbusters, 6 Days 7 Days, Old School, Space Jam, Fathers Day, Beethoven, Beethoven’s 2nd
7 Rob Altman-Mash, McCabe and Mrs Miller, California Split, Buffalo Bill and the Indian, The Player, Dr. T and the Women, Prairie Home Companion
7 Steve Sodebergh-Erin Brockovitch, Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Full Frontal, Good German, Ocean’s 13, Informant
7 Vincente Minelli-Meet me in St Louis, American in Paris, The Pirate, Brigadoon, The Band Wagon, Kismet, Sandpiper
6 Mel Brooks-Spaceballs, High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, History of the World Part I
6 Frank Oz-Bowfinger, In and Out, Stepford Wives, The Score, What About Bob, Housesitter
6 Terry Gilliam-Time Bandits, Brazil, Fisher King, Monty Python, Brothers Grimm, Baron Muchenhausen
6 Barry Levinson-Tin Men, Rain Man, Sleepers, Good Morning Vietnam, Man of the Year, Wag the Dog
6 Peter Segal-Naked Gun 33 1/3, Tommy Boy, My Fellow Americans, 50 First Dates, Get Smart
6 Jay Roach-Austin Powers I-III, Meet the Parents, Mystery Alaska, Dinner for Schmucks
6 Tony Scott- Enemy of the State, Déjà Vu, Crimson Tide, Top Gun, Taking of Pelham 1,2,3; Unstoppable
6 Brett Ratner-After the Sunset, Rush Hour 2, Family Man, X-Men 3, Red Dragon, Tower Heist
6 Ron Howard-Apollo 13, Beautiful Mind, Da Vinci Code, Frost/Nixon, Angels and Demons, The Paper
6 Gore Verbinski-Pirates of the Carribean 1-3, Weatherman, The Mexican, Rango
6 Stanley Donen-Take Me Out to the Ballgame (most sources insist that he really was the director, not Bugsy Berkley), On the Town, Singing in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Charade, Bedazzled
5 George Lucas-Star Wars I-IV, American Graffiti
5 Tom Shadyac-Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty, Patch Adams, Evan Allmighty, Ace Ventura
5 Sydney Pollack-Sabrina, Out of Africa, Tootsie, The Interpreter, Slender Thread
5 Joel Schumaker-Time to Kill, 8 MM, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, The Client
5 Orson Welles-Citizen Kane, Lady of Shanghai, Othello, Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil
5 Bryan Singer-Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2, Superman Returns, Valkyrie
5 John Glenn-5 Bond films
5 Johnothan Demme-Silence of the Lambs, Melvin and Howard, Manchurian Candidate, Married to the Mob, Rachel Getting Married
5 Tim Burton-Batman, Batman Returns, Ed Wood, Charlie and the Chocolate Factor, Alice in Wonderland
5 Roland Emmerich-ID4, Stargate, The Patriot, Day After Tomorrow, 2012
5 Robert Rodriguez-El Mariachi Trilogy, Spy Kids and Lava Girl, Sin City
5 Peter Weir-Witness, Dead Poet’s Society, The Truman Show, Master and Commander,Year of Living Dangerously
5 Rob Reiner-Stand and Deliver, Princess Bride, Rumor Has It, American President, Ghosts of Mississippi
5 Curtis Hanson- LA Confidential, Wonderboys, In Her Shoes, Lucky You, 8 Mile
5 Cameron Crowe-Almost Famous, Jerry MaGuire, Vanilla Sky, Elizabethtown, We Bought a Zoo
5 Chris Columbus-Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Stepmom, I Love You Beth Cooper
5 Barry Sonnenfeld-Men in Black I, II, Wild Wild West, Big Trouble, MiB III
5 John Lynn-Whole Nine Yards, Trial and Error, Sgt Bilko, Trial and Error, My Cousin Vinny
5 Peter and Bobby Farrelly-Kingpin, Dumb and Dumber, Fever Pitch, Shallow Hal, Osmosis Jones
5 John Lasseter-Lady and the Tramp, Toy Story 1, Cars, Toy Story 2, Cars 2
5 Blake Edwards-A Shot in the Dark, Pink Panther, Return of the Pink Panther, Great Race, What Did You Do in the War Daddy
5 John Ford-Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Hurricane, How Green was my Valley, The Whole Town's Talking
4 Sidney Lumet: Network, 12 Angry Men, Murder on the Orient Express, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
4 John Huston-Beat the Devil, Key Largo, African Queen, Man Who Would be King
4 Terrence Young-Wait Until Dark, 3 Bond films
4 Harold Lloyd-Safety Last, Feet First, The Freshman, Kid Brother
4 Guy Hamilton-4 Bond movies
4 Kevin Smith-Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Dogma
4 D. Herek-Mr. Holland’s Opus, Three Musketeers, Mighty Ducks, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures
4 Wes Anderson-Rushmore, Royal Tannenbaums, The Life Aquatic, Darjeerling Limited
4 Penny Marshall-Awakenings, Rennisance Man, Big, League of their Own
4 Ernst Lubitsch-Shop Around the Corner, Ninotchka, Merry Widow, Trouble in Paradise
4 Lasse Holstrom-What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Hoax, Cider House Rules, Shipping News
4 James Mangold-3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Kate and Leopold, Night and Day
4 Dennis Dungan-Happy Gilmore, Beverly Hills Ninja, Big Daddy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
4 Sam Weisman-George of the Jungle, Dickie Roberts Former Child Star, Out-of Towners, Mighty Ducks 2
4 Christopher Guest-For Your Consideration, Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman
4 Jon Favreau-Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Cowboys and Aliens
4 Adam McKay: Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, The Other Guys
4 David Lean-Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Passage to India, Summertime
4 Michael Moore-Roger and Me, F 411, Sicko, Capitalism: A Love Story
4 Sam Raimi-Spiderman 1-3, Oz: The Great and Powerful
4 Chris Nolan-Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Dark Knight Rises, Inception
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Looking at some of the 2013 shows that didnt measure up
I just posted my Top 10 List along with an Honorable Mention. On top of that, I include a list of shows that I watched so someone reading my Top 10 List will know what it was up against because no critic watches everything. In that respect, I'd like to also review 2013 by discussing some of the shows that fell short of being considered by myself for the year's best TV:
The Crazy Ones-It's a somewhat dependable sitcom and the Robin Williams/Sarah Michelle Gellar is a great pairing. I'll never understand the school of thought that Robin Williams is kind of annoying instead of a supremely talented guy who is among the most gifted comedians out there. Though I'd place myself in the top 10% of the population in terms of how much they like Robin Williams, even I found him a little redundant here. The show also loses points for having one of my last favorite stock characters: The lothario who is effortlessly irresistible to the opposite sex. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that it's supposed to be his comic trait and there's nothing that inherently funny about a guy who uses women like he does. Amanda Setton is clearly a talented actress but she isn't used particularly well here (ironically, I think she fit in better on "The Mindy Project") and she's given her character a weird tic of making every line of dialogue sound like a nervous question (perhaps she's trying to get on the cast of "Whose Line is It Anyway?").
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: This was a great addition to my weekly schedule for several weeks but the show had some irritating traits that eventually cancelled out the show's strengths. Andy Samberg does not make a believable cop (or a likable character for that matter) which begs the question: If the show's sole function is as a vehicle for Andy Samberg, why place him into TV's most overused genre when he doesn't fit into it? While some of the side characters (this show could win a diversity award for best Latino cast on TV) and relationships are excellent, the show lacks any sort of grounding upon which to build comedy. The comic tone is geared so much towards one-liners and quick gags, it feels more like vaudeville than a multi-layered source of laughs.
Modern Family-The show is high enough in quality to have merited honorable mention every year thus far, but by this point, the show has used up nearly every bag of tricks at its disposal. At this point, how many more hidden talents can Cam reveral? How many more revelations can there be that Jay's really a softie? How many more times can Alex surprise Haley by climbing her way up the social ladder? Hasn't she had her first boyfriend three times by now? This is not a fault of the show as it's doing what it is designed to do: Produce consistent and interchangeable episodes so that it can make a killing in syndication. I would happily watch this show five years from now when it turns up on the TV on a random afternoon and I still watch it now. It's just no longer event viewing.
The Sing-Off-It was probably right around #11 the last time it came on in 2011. Since the Sing-Off came back from the brink of cancellation, it acquired a new corporate producer in the form of Sony Television which made a few small changes that ended up making the show worse. I thought seven episodes was the optimal number but I didn't feel like I got the chance to know most of these groups. More backstory was needed and the swan songs, Ben's blog and the post-performance camera chats might have helped that.
The Awesomes (Hulu)-Seth Meyer's newest venture, the show got off to a great start and seemed to find something unique to say in the now overcrowded genre of superhero spoofs. I still watched it all the way through but the plots lost a little firepower after a while as certain plot motifs started repeating themselves (i.e. no one catching onto Malocchio's plan, Prock having a crush on Hotwire, Muscleman dealing with his inferior intellect in comparison to Prock) in ways that didn't build. Of the eight superheroes, I found only about half to really hold my attention as interesting characters. Coincidentally, that's the same hit-miss ratio as SNL sketches so, hey, at least Seth is consistent.
Alpha House (Amazon)-Based on an article from the New York Times, the show about four Senators sharing a house in Washington is a premise winning enough to get a good bidding war and the necessary amount of hype to kick off Amazon's original content platform. The show is pleasant and breezy through the first three episodes. At the same time, it's somewhat underwhelming due to the fact that it seems episodic in tone with little serialization. It almost seems like the remnants of a multi-camera sitcom. It's also worth noting that John Goodman seems to be recycling some of his old roles for the lead character (I see some traces of Evan Almighty, Flight, the Babe and some of his Coen brothers films). He is a bit grumpy, a little lazy, and that's about it. This is is even more disappointing considering that most standout shows in the Golden Age of TV have incredibly strong protagonists. The upside is that the show has a lot of potential for good plots as there's a lot of amusing situations I can imagine placing four senators in. In the third episode, for example, they go to Afghanistan on a fact-finding trip for self-serving reasons. Although I was disappointed that they were in Afghanistan only in the episode's third act, it had potential.
My disappointments with Lilyhammer, Scandal, American Horror Story, and 1600 Penn are covered elsewhere on this blog.
The Crazy Ones-It's a somewhat dependable sitcom and the Robin Williams/Sarah Michelle Gellar is a great pairing. I'll never understand the school of thought that Robin Williams is kind of annoying instead of a supremely talented guy who is among the most gifted comedians out there. Though I'd place myself in the top 10% of the population in terms of how much they like Robin Williams, even I found him a little redundant here. The show also loses points for having one of my last favorite stock characters: The lothario who is effortlessly irresistible to the opposite sex. This wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that it's supposed to be his comic trait and there's nothing that inherently funny about a guy who uses women like he does. Amanda Setton is clearly a talented actress but she isn't used particularly well here (ironically, I think she fit in better on "The Mindy Project") and she's given her character a weird tic of making every line of dialogue sound like a nervous question (perhaps she's trying to get on the cast of "Whose Line is It Anyway?").
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: This was a great addition to my weekly schedule for several weeks but the show had some irritating traits that eventually cancelled out the show's strengths. Andy Samberg does not make a believable cop (or a likable character for that matter) which begs the question: If the show's sole function is as a vehicle for Andy Samberg, why place him into TV's most overused genre when he doesn't fit into it? While some of the side characters (this show could win a diversity award for best Latino cast on TV) and relationships are excellent, the show lacks any sort of grounding upon which to build comedy. The comic tone is geared so much towards one-liners and quick gags, it feels more like vaudeville than a multi-layered source of laughs.
Modern Family-The show is high enough in quality to have merited honorable mention every year thus far, but by this point, the show has used up nearly every bag of tricks at its disposal. At this point, how many more hidden talents can Cam reveral? How many more revelations can there be that Jay's really a softie? How many more times can Alex surprise Haley by climbing her way up the social ladder? Hasn't she had her first boyfriend three times by now? This is not a fault of the show as it's doing what it is designed to do: Produce consistent and interchangeable episodes so that it can make a killing in syndication. I would happily watch this show five years from now when it turns up on the TV on a random afternoon and I still watch it now. It's just no longer event viewing.
The Sing-Off-It was probably right around #11 the last time it came on in 2011. Since the Sing-Off came back from the brink of cancellation, it acquired a new corporate producer in the form of Sony Television which made a few small changes that ended up making the show worse. I thought seven episodes was the optimal number but I didn't feel like I got the chance to know most of these groups. More backstory was needed and the swan songs, Ben's blog and the post-performance camera chats might have helped that.
The Awesomes (Hulu)-Seth Meyer's newest venture, the show got off to a great start and seemed to find something unique to say in the now overcrowded genre of superhero spoofs. I still watched it all the way through but the plots lost a little firepower after a while as certain plot motifs started repeating themselves (i.e. no one catching onto Malocchio's plan, Prock having a crush on Hotwire, Muscleman dealing with his inferior intellect in comparison to Prock) in ways that didn't build. Of the eight superheroes, I found only about half to really hold my attention as interesting characters. Coincidentally, that's the same hit-miss ratio as SNL sketches so, hey, at least Seth is consistent.
Alpha House (Amazon)-Based on an article from the New York Times, the show about four Senators sharing a house in Washington is a premise winning enough to get a good bidding war and the necessary amount of hype to kick off Amazon's original content platform. The show is pleasant and breezy through the first three episodes. At the same time, it's somewhat underwhelming due to the fact that it seems episodic in tone with little serialization. It almost seems like the remnants of a multi-camera sitcom. It's also worth noting that John Goodman seems to be recycling some of his old roles for the lead character (I see some traces of Evan Almighty, Flight, the Babe and some of his Coen brothers films). He is a bit grumpy, a little lazy, and that's about it. This is is even more disappointing considering that most standout shows in the Golden Age of TV have incredibly strong protagonists. The upside is that the show has a lot of potential for good plots as there's a lot of amusing situations I can imagine placing four senators in. In the third episode, for example, they go to Afghanistan on a fact-finding trip for self-serving reasons. Although I was disappointed that they were in Afghanistan only in the episode's third act, it had potential.
My disappointments with Lilyhammer, Scandal, American Horror Story, and 1600 Penn are covered elsewhere on this blog.
My predictions for the Hitfix Critical List
In the Golden Age of TV, it's important not just to analyze what's good and what isn't but to analyze the people making such judgments. Hitfix has an annual poll that collectively pools from all the Top Ten Lists of the TV critics. I doubt I'll get a chance to participate in it but I thought it might be fun to predict what they came up with based on my impression of the critical temperature of TV. Note that the list is already out and I'm writing this from imperfect knowledge:
1. Breaking Bad, AMC-The show has been the recipient of so much hyperbole and had an agreeable enough ending that I'm pretty sure nothing else will take its mojo at this point. Like an Olympic diver who racks up 10's early in the competition, it was pretty much guaranteed high placement in its last season as long as it didn't flub the landing.
2. Mad Men, AMC-A show that was the MVP of the airwaves somewhere around 07-09 and hasn't had any major fall from grace, it should place pretty high based on plurality, particularly with some of the game changers this season.
3. Game of Thrones, HBO-The way this relatively nerdy show is crossing over into the mainstream and getting water cooler talk is going to bode well.
4. Good Wife, ABC-Steadily winning over critics over the years, I think this year will be a tipping point where the show finally hits big. I expect it will get a lot of votes in the 3-6 range
5. Enlightened, HBO-Whether critics will remember this monumental hit from way back in January-March or whether they'll be moved to reserve a slot for a TV show that's been cancelled is up for debate, but this was a truly special TV show and a lot of critics felt that way.
6. Broadchurch, BBC-I know very little about this show but like Downtown Abbey, BBC is crossing over very well into the US right now and I'm predicting this as the new critical darling
7. Orange is the New Black, Netflix- Somewhat of a sleeper hit (considering it debuted in the shadow of House of Cards and Arrested Development) I'm seeing enough buzz for it
8. Americans, FX-I have some personal issues with the way it stretches credibility, but I'm seeing a lot of potential for it among critics as the hot new show and in terms of creating genuine suspense (both multi-episode arc and in-episode), there's few shows that have done as well
9. Scandal, ABC-Quite possibly the most buzzed-about show this year (even more impressive considering we saw the back half of the second season and the top half of the third.
10. Homeland, Showtime-Some people haven't liked the third season as much but this show's a game changer and still very high quality. Even on an off-year, it will probably get enough praise to make the top ten.
11. Parks and Recreation, NBC- Critics will feel the need to balance out all the great drama with a comedy or two and this long-time critical favorite which has consistently placed on top ten lists throughout will likely be touted especially as an indirect way of honoring Greg Daniels' original vision of The Office which departed the airwaves this year and most agree has gone way too far off the rails to be honored in any way.
12. House of Cards, Netflix- Most of the feedback I heard was disappointment over the first couple episodes (I'm in that category) and then high praise from those who stuck with it and thought it came back around to brilliance. Even for TV critics, there aren't enough hours in the day to watch the 100+ programs that populate the airwaves every week and have to make decisions to optimize their TV watching, so I wouldn't be surprised if a number of TV critics didn't get to that point.
13. Arrested Development, Netflix-This show is hailed as the high water of the first decade of the 21st century in TV comedy, but it will be interesting to see where it places here as it existed before the Golden Age of TV and existed before episode-by-episode online scrutiny. The show has largely been seen as different yet still satisfying with a fair share of those saying the show lived up to or fell below the ridiculously high expectations
14. Masters of Sex, Showtime-The hype for the show was high and, by and large, it lived up to. The risque topic will earn the show bravery points and doing it tastefully will earn it quality points
15. Boardwalk Empire, HBO-A show that's been seen one of the most ambitious on TV for the past four years that has never got the love of Mad Men, Breaking Bad, or Homeland, but is never one to count out either. The season two back-half in which Nucky Thompson and protege Jimmy Darmody got engaged in a power struggle earned praise and critics appear to be even happier about this season with the show. Even if critics have already come to terms with this show not becoming the next big thing, it will likely get votes at the bottom of tens.
16. Orphan Black, BBC-A show I'm not familiar with but one that I have seen generating a lot of buzz
17. American Horror Story, FX-The show is clearly all over the place but several critics have latched onto the stuff that works and repackaged the parts that don't work as part of Murphy and Falchuk's vision worthy of celebration for its unique bizarreness. Last time, I intensely delved into this show's reviews (around 2011), it was a highly polarizing show but in a system of tallying up top tens, the haters won't have any sort of veto power. Besides, since 2012, the show has become more decisive about what it wants to be.
18. New Girl, Fox-As in "Parks and Recreation" critics will need to put some simple comedies on their lists to show that they're capable of enjoying light-hearted lists and with "30 Rock" offering too short of a sample to really be called a 2013 show, "Louie" out of the running, "Girls" having an off-year and "Community" losing even some of it's strongest fans, I'm going to predict this show. It will likely earn extra points for writing its characters into an unenviable shipping and navigating its way out of that disaster.
19. Hannibal, NBC-With "The Americans," "Bates Motel," and "Hannibal" there's been a lot of great TV that came about this Spring and I've seen this show pick up a lot of notice.
20. Bob's Burgers, FOX-I firmly believe that if you're putting this on your year-end list you're doing a disservice since I don't see it as ambitious and one thing that most shows in the Golden Age have in common is ambition. Still, I'm seeing a lot of people think it's great
21. Walking Dead, AMC-A show that earned most of its praise when it debuted in late 2010, but it's consistently been must-see TV year in and year out, that captures the attention of the populance and critics alike.
22. Sleepy Hollow, NBC-Among new prime time dramas, this one seems the only one worthy of attention and buzz. I haven't followed the reviews too closely so I don't have that good of a grasp on it
23. Archer, FX-I'm not sure if this is the year in which "Archer" goes from underrated to getting top 10 recognition but most people who are familiar with the show now that brilliant and the chemistry between the cast keeps getting better and better.
24. Top of the Lake, Sundance Channel-This is the first year in which Sundance Channel has had some programs of note and some critics might not have even made it there. This could work in the show's favor for critics who want to show they're ahead of the curve. Also working in its favor is Elizabeth Moss's unjust loss at the Emmys.
25. Sherlock, BBC-Benedict Cumberbatch's high profile this year could work in this show's favor.
26. Downtown Abbey, PBS-I see no reason why this critical favorite shouldn't at least siphon a few votes even if it hasn't been as visible as previous shows
27. Veep, HBO-It now has two Emmy-winning actresses and it earned high praises last year so I don't see the show going anywhere
28. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fox-Although it's not amazing or even good by many standards, it's probably the only new Fall comedy that has any ambition and some might like its idiosyncrasies.
29. The Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin-Sorkin is a crowd favorite and this didn't have the water cooler buzz of "West Wing" but it's certainly better than "Studio 60"
30. Key and Peele, Comedy Central-These two comedians are certainly getting more notable for their innovative brand of comedy and no one's saying this show is subpar for sketch comedy. It's just not notable that even good sketch comedy makes it on these sorts of lists. They are game changers
1. Breaking Bad, AMC-The show has been the recipient of so much hyperbole and had an agreeable enough ending that I'm pretty sure nothing else will take its mojo at this point. Like an Olympic diver who racks up 10's early in the competition, it was pretty much guaranteed high placement in its last season as long as it didn't flub the landing.
2. Mad Men, AMC-A show that was the MVP of the airwaves somewhere around 07-09 and hasn't had any major fall from grace, it should place pretty high based on plurality, particularly with some of the game changers this season.
3. Game of Thrones, HBO-The way this relatively nerdy show is crossing over into the mainstream and getting water cooler talk is going to bode well.
4. Good Wife, ABC-Steadily winning over critics over the years, I think this year will be a tipping point where the show finally hits big. I expect it will get a lot of votes in the 3-6 range
5. Enlightened, HBO-Whether critics will remember this monumental hit from way back in January-March or whether they'll be moved to reserve a slot for a TV show that's been cancelled is up for debate, but this was a truly special TV show and a lot of critics felt that way.
6. Broadchurch, BBC-I know very little about this show but like Downtown Abbey, BBC is crossing over very well into the US right now and I'm predicting this as the new critical darling
7. Orange is the New Black, Netflix- Somewhat of a sleeper hit (considering it debuted in the shadow of House of Cards and Arrested Development) I'm seeing enough buzz for it
8. Americans, FX-I have some personal issues with the way it stretches credibility, but I'm seeing a lot of potential for it among critics as the hot new show and in terms of creating genuine suspense (both multi-episode arc and in-episode), there's few shows that have done as well
9. Scandal, ABC-Quite possibly the most buzzed-about show this year (even more impressive considering we saw the back half of the second season and the top half of the third.
10. Homeland, Showtime-Some people haven't liked the third season as much but this show's a game changer and still very high quality. Even on an off-year, it will probably get enough praise to make the top ten.
11. Parks and Recreation, NBC- Critics will feel the need to balance out all the great drama with a comedy or two and this long-time critical favorite which has consistently placed on top ten lists throughout will likely be touted especially as an indirect way of honoring Greg Daniels' original vision of The Office which departed the airwaves this year and most agree has gone way too far off the rails to be honored in any way.
12. House of Cards, Netflix- Most of the feedback I heard was disappointment over the first couple episodes (I'm in that category) and then high praise from those who stuck with it and thought it came back around to brilliance. Even for TV critics, there aren't enough hours in the day to watch the 100+ programs that populate the airwaves every week and have to make decisions to optimize their TV watching, so I wouldn't be surprised if a number of TV critics didn't get to that point.
13. Arrested Development, Netflix-This show is hailed as the high water of the first decade of the 21st century in TV comedy, but it will be interesting to see where it places here as it existed before the Golden Age of TV and existed before episode-by-episode online scrutiny. The show has largely been seen as different yet still satisfying with a fair share of those saying the show lived up to or fell below the ridiculously high expectations
14. Masters of Sex, Showtime-The hype for the show was high and, by and large, it lived up to. The risque topic will earn the show bravery points and doing it tastefully will earn it quality points
15. Boardwalk Empire, HBO-A show that's been seen one of the most ambitious on TV for the past four years that has never got the love of Mad Men, Breaking Bad, or Homeland, but is never one to count out either. The season two back-half in which Nucky Thompson and protege Jimmy Darmody got engaged in a power struggle earned praise and critics appear to be even happier about this season with the show. Even if critics have already come to terms with this show not becoming the next big thing, it will likely get votes at the bottom of tens.
16. Orphan Black, BBC-A show I'm not familiar with but one that I have seen generating a lot of buzz
17. American Horror Story, FX-The show is clearly all over the place but several critics have latched onto the stuff that works and repackaged the parts that don't work as part of Murphy and Falchuk's vision worthy of celebration for its unique bizarreness. Last time, I intensely delved into this show's reviews (around 2011), it was a highly polarizing show but in a system of tallying up top tens, the haters won't have any sort of veto power. Besides, since 2012, the show has become more decisive about what it wants to be.
18. New Girl, Fox-As in "Parks and Recreation" critics will need to put some simple comedies on their lists to show that they're capable of enjoying light-hearted lists and with "30 Rock" offering too short of a sample to really be called a 2013 show, "Louie" out of the running, "Girls" having an off-year and "Community" losing even some of it's strongest fans, I'm going to predict this show. It will likely earn extra points for writing its characters into an unenviable shipping and navigating its way out of that disaster.
19. Hannibal, NBC-With "The Americans," "Bates Motel," and "Hannibal" there's been a lot of great TV that came about this Spring and I've seen this show pick up a lot of notice.
20. Bob's Burgers, FOX-I firmly believe that if you're putting this on your year-end list you're doing a disservice since I don't see it as ambitious and one thing that most shows in the Golden Age have in common is ambition. Still, I'm seeing a lot of people think it's great
21. Walking Dead, AMC-A show that earned most of its praise when it debuted in late 2010, but it's consistently been must-see TV year in and year out, that captures the attention of the populance and critics alike.
22. Sleepy Hollow, NBC-Among new prime time dramas, this one seems the only one worthy of attention and buzz. I haven't followed the reviews too closely so I don't have that good of a grasp on it
23. Archer, FX-I'm not sure if this is the year in which "Archer" goes from underrated to getting top 10 recognition but most people who are familiar with the show now that brilliant and the chemistry between the cast keeps getting better and better.
24. Top of the Lake, Sundance Channel-This is the first year in which Sundance Channel has had some programs of note and some critics might not have even made it there. This could work in the show's favor for critics who want to show they're ahead of the curve. Also working in its favor is Elizabeth Moss's unjust loss at the Emmys.
25. Sherlock, BBC-Benedict Cumberbatch's high profile this year could work in this show's favor.
26. Downtown Abbey, PBS-I see no reason why this critical favorite shouldn't at least siphon a few votes even if it hasn't been as visible as previous shows
27. Veep, HBO-It now has two Emmy-winning actresses and it earned high praises last year so I don't see the show going anywhere
28. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fox-Although it's not amazing or even good by many standards, it's probably the only new Fall comedy that has any ambition and some might like its idiosyncrasies.
29. The Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin-Sorkin is a crowd favorite and this didn't have the water cooler buzz of "West Wing" but it's certainly better than "Studio 60"
30. Key and Peele, Comedy Central-These two comedians are certainly getting more notable for their innovative brand of comedy and no one's saying this show is subpar for sketch comedy. It's just not notable that even good sketch comedy makes it on these sorts of lists. They are game changers
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