Showing posts with label tawp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tawp. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2009
Return of the TAWp!
Welcome back to the That's A Wrap! TAWp Nine in its latest form with yet another deviation of the total number of posts. As always, your faithful That's a Wrap! Editors pick individual favorites in a particular category. Together the picks combine to create VOLTRON! Well, ok, not quite as cool as robotic kitties of doom, but it's close.As we reboot the website for the new Fall TV season, we're mixing it up with a list featuring highlights from the big screen. This week we chronicle SIX big Oscar and box office heavyweights of the Fall and Winter seasons.
3. Jim - Invictus (12/11/2009)
I've been on an Eastwood tear this summer. I've long been a vocal supporter of how great Mystic River was, been in awe of Unforgiven and Letters From Iwo Jimo and recently really enjoyed Gran Torino. Excluding the hick-up that was Million Dollar Baby (and I blame that on Hilary Swank, she's been nothing but bad news since she ruined the Karate Kid series for me), he's generally aces. And a political/social drama starring his Unforgiven buddy, Morgan Freeman... You had me at hello, Clint. And it's a sports movie, too! Eastwood-political/social drama/Freeman/sports - That's like a parallelogram of awesome right there.
This Oscar front-runner stars Freeman as South African President Nelson Mandela attempting to unify his country in the aftermath of apartheid around hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Jason Bourne himself, Matt Damon, plays South African team captain Francois Pienaar.
3. Billy - Zombieland (10/2/09)
Ok, ok, so this one is not going to be on anyone's Oscar list this year, but I just cannot pass up the allure of a good zombie movie. And by "good" I mean...well, I'll watch just about any zombie movie at least once. I have absolutely no illusions that this is going to be anywhere near as funny or enchanting as the zombie-comedy standard bearer Shaun of the Dead but I just don't care. I love horror movies and this October seems to have a lack of anything that looks remotely interesting (Saw 12 is coming out, right?), so Zombieland is at least filling that niche for me.
If zombies don't do it for you (and if not, what the hell is wrong with you?) then how about Woody Harrelson? Remember when he was awesome? He was totally in White Men Can't Jump! He was the titular "white man!" Seriously though, the cast looks totally bonkers: Bill Murray, Jesse Eisenberg, Mike White, Abigail Breslin. I just can't pass this one up.
2. Jim - Brothers (12/4/2009)
Like all my picks on today's list, this remake of a 2004 Danish drama peaks my interest with a stellar director in Jim Sheridan. Between My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father, The Boxer and In America, he's got one of my favorite imdb pages. And his cast in this one certainly has a lot of potential with Tobey Maguire as a soldier believed to be KIA, Natalie Portman as his wife and mother of two young girls and Jake Gyllenhaal as Maguire's drifter brother.
Like most Sheridan films, this appears to be a tough emotional journey for characters we'll care about with great tragedy and in the end something hopeful and life-affirming. It's a tried and true formula that works for me like killer robots works for Billy. And really, we plan the summer for the fun movies. The highlights from this time of year are meant to be meaningful and emotionally challenging. And that my friends is right up Sheridan's alley.
2. Billy - Where The Wild Things Are (10/16/09)
I'm in for this one because of two words: Spike. Jonze. After being absolutely bowled over by Jonze's previous films Being John Malkovich and Adaptation I would sit through anything that he directs. Seriously, do you think those movies were great because of the Charlie Kaufman scripts? Synecdoche, New York and Being Human say hello. Add Jonze's keen direction to a movie based on Maurice Sendak's classic children's book and you have a match made in heaven.
Want another reason to see this movie? Watch the trailer, it's full of CGI Wild Things and they look fabulous! My usual feeling is this: Special effects aren't. I've got to a place where I look at most every big budget special effect blockbuster and just don't believe anything on the screen could be real. It's rare when I see something truly otherworldly and think that it looks like it could exist within our space, but by God those wild things fit that bill. I still have some misgivings with the voice cast(Tony Soprano? Really?) but am willing to forgive them because it just looks so damn fun.
1. Jim - The Lovely Bones (12/11/2009)
(Note: I am not stealing this phrase from Billy. I wrote mine first. So there, bitches.) Two words - Peter. Jackson. Even after the um... let's call it... uneven job with the remake of King Kong, this is a guy who has built up such an enormous credit of trust with me between The Frighteners, Dead Alive and that little project from a few years ago.
Based on Alice Sebold's 2002 novel, this is one of two projects coming out this year I'm so jazzed for I plan on reading the book first (the other being Cormac McCarthy's The Road). The story of a child's death and how her family go on while she observes from heaven stars Mark Wahlberg, who recently built up a new reservoir of credit with The Departed just as he was running out of love for Boogie Nights, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci and Atonement's Saoirse Ronan as the murdered child.
1. Billy - The Road (11/25/09)
Part of the reason why I want to see this movie so badly is just because after reading the phenomenal Cormac McCarthy novel this movie is based on I cannot fathom how someone could make it into a compelling film. It's not Watchmen-level unfilmable, but the prose-like narrative is half of what made The Road an impressive read, without that I'm not sure the story will have the same kind of impact. I want to see director John Hillcoat succeed because I do love the book, but I have my worries.
The other reason I want desperately to see this flick? Purely selfish, the bombed out post-apocalyptic southern coast depicted in this movie was filmed in my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. Yeah, it's a silly reason, but I'm itching to see places that I've been substituting for a devastated countryside.
Oh yeah, the cast is wicked awesome too: Viggo Mortensen, Garret Dillahunt, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce. Can't wait to see this flick.
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Friday, March 20, 2009
That's a Wrap! TAWp Nine Ten
Welcome to the That's A Wrap! TAWp As we wind into the home stretch for our Battlestar Galactica Week, it's time to break out a countdown of our favorite episodes to date. Just a reminder its best you only proceed if you've seen the series up until the finale or beware the spoilers.
5. Billy - The Oath (Season 4, Episode 13)
Jim and I are on opposite sides of the fence regarding which of the two episodes in this group is the better, "The Oath" or "Blood On The Scales." For my money I say "The Oath" is the better episode. The sense of mounting tension that Gaeta and Zarek's scheming creates is simply superb. Admiral Adama is easily my favorite character and it's a difficult episode to watch as he is stripped away from the command of his beloved vessel. The crazy part of the episode is that you, as a viewer, might agree with Gaeta's grievances. I mean, really, installing Cylon tech on every ship in the fleet despite being bitter enemies with them just months ago? It's understandable at least, reprehensible, but understandable. It's sad to watch these people on the ropes after finding Earth (Cylon Earth, no less!) decimated and acting out in ways to cope with the tragedy. They literally have nothing to look forward to any longer. It's this sense of hopelessness that permeates the episode and facilitates the dread accompanying the mutiny.
But enough about the philosophical reasons why the episode is great, how about the purely bad ass ones. I can think of few defining moments in the series that I smile at as much as Admiral Adama breaking free of his guards with his trusty buddy Colonel Tigh at his side (Tigh standing with a gun in each hand moments after they take down the guards is a highlight as well). Then there is the kiss. I'm an ardent Roslin-Adama shipper and found this small gesture of pure love in the middle of this desperation touching on many levels. The ending is pitch perfect as well, with Adama and Tigh side by side facing probable doom but never backing down. Brilliant episode.
5. Jim - Blood on the Scales (Season 4, Episode 14)
Without a doubt the highlight of season 4.5 so far has been the insurrection led by Gaeta and Zarek. And if "The Oath" was this show at maximum volume, this is one of many episodes that cranked it up to 11. As Zarek sinks to a new low (having the Quorum assassinated for not going along with his coup), the tide turns with kick ass moments all around for Roslin, Lampkin, Lee and Kara and the superior pair of Adama and Tigh. Hell, even the rarely used Captain Kelly shines.
Nothing can touch Adama's march to the bridge, pulling others to his side by a sheer force of will in the ass kicking deparment. But its ultimately the shining performance of Alessandro Juliani as Gaeta that stands out. One of many strong actors on the show, his game stepped up considerably, unleashing an acting clinic in the second half of season four. It is his performance during the resolution that gives this episode a haunting denouement that stays with you long past the credits.
4. Billy - Downloaded (Season 2, Episode 18)
There are many reasons why I love this episode but the biggest one has to be Tricia Helfer. Six had always been a character that I didn't really care about. She was responsible for the attacks on the colonies succeeding and the only other exposure that we got to Six (aside from other Sixes like Gina and Shelley Godfrey) was Head Six. Cryptic messages and romps in the mind-sack with Balter did not really endear me to the character. But if you go back to the miniseries and watch when Six kills that baby, she did it out of compassion. Sure, it's disgusting that she murdered a baby, but she KNEW what horrors would face that child in the universe post-attack. You can see that it affected her when she rushes off. She took no pleasure in the murder. So "Downloaded" is fantastic because we get to see a little bit more of that Six, now known as Caprica Six. We see that she has morals, she is clearly wracked with guilt over her hand in the attacks. This episode is a watershed moment in the series, it's the point at which we get to see the Cylons as more than just amoral robots, but rather they are people who struggle and suffer just like the humans in the fleet. Except these guys can revive in tubs of goop when they die.
Seeing Caprica Six become a well rounded character would have been enough to make this episode a classic, but that wasn't all. We also got a huge glimpse at Cylon society AND we got to pal around with Anders' resistance down on Caprica. It was nice to take a break from the fleet and this episode takes full advantage of that time.
4. Jim - Flight of the Phoenix (Season 2, Episode 9)
Something to admire in this show is how the truly happy moments are so few and far between and because of this feel so utterly deserved. With the crew of Galactica feeling especially morose as the desperate finality of their new situation sinks in, there just aren't too many other times when they could really use a win. Preferably one that isn't tainted in even more death and loses. This episode brought two big wins. Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas does an exceptionally fine job this week) and his deck crew lead an effort to create a new stealth Viper from spare parts. While the effort uniformly mocked, it can't help but drag in everyone from Dualla and Starbuck to cranky, old Tigh. The writers, David Weddle and Bradley Thompson, do an excellent job establishing simultaneously the crew's desperation, determination and above all the need to hope.
While that story takes up a bulk of the time, the biggest win comes when Athena begins to earn her place on the ship, by interfacing with a Cylon computer virus that was crippling the ship and turning the tide in a massive space battle. Between the elation experienced here and in "Hand of God," Weddle and Thompson seem to have a monopoly on happy in the BSG universe, while cranking out an amazing five of the episodes on this list.
3. Billy - 33 (Season 1, Episode 1)
"33" is a brilliant concept episode because it is so atypical of many of the series episodes. Considering that this was the first episode following almost a year gap after the miniseries, it was quite a gamble to make the audience jump back into the fray in the middle of this terrible event. For some reason the Cylons find the colonial fleet every 33 minutes and because the FTL jumps necessary to escape for those precious 33 minutes are incredibly painful, no one can sleep. The entire fleet has only been able to grab small naps between the jumps and the sleeplessness is building up. Everyone is scared, frazzled and about to collapse. But they don't, they keep on moving because not doing so would mean the end of the human race.
"33" may be peculiar in the pantheon of BSG storytelling, but it would set the tone that the series would keep for the entire run. It's important for the very fact that it is the first episode, but also because it's one of the very best.
3. Jim - You Can't Go Home Again (Season 1, Episode 5)
Even if the show had a remarkable advantage to establish the characters in a substantive mini-series, its nice to see them and their relationship explored a little more in the early goings. And no episode did a finer job of establishing the new status quo between the critical trio of Commander Adama, Lee and Kara than this one. In this episode, Kara has been stranded on a deserted planet and Adama and Lee risk the safety of the fleet to recover her.
From a fanboy perspective, it's cool that we get our first look inside a Cylon raider as Kara tries to juryrig one to get back to Galactica by herself. While all three of the main characters do a fine job, it's Edward James Olmos that fully comes into his own as Adama, exploring the conflict between duty and devotion to his children (both literal and symbolic). And of course his once adversarial relationship with Lee is changed forever when he utters the words, "If it was you... we'd never leave." There's reasons that Adama's the best character on the show and most of it is Olmos performances like this.
2. Billy - Lay Down Your Burdens: Part 2 (Season 2, Episode 20)
This episode is filled to the brim with story and drama, it's actually a few minutes longer because of this and it doesn't waste a single moment of that time. Let's count the things going on here: Kara rescues Anders and returns to Galactica, Brother Cavil is outed as a Cylon when Kara inadvertently brings a second Cavil on board, Roslin attempts to rig the presidential elections to beat Baltar, she's caught by Adama who convinces her to not risk losing her dignity by keeping the stolen office, Baltar assumes the presidency, the fleet lands on New Caprica to make a go at living on a planet, Cloud 9 is destroyed by Gina (thus depriving our fleet of ANY pleasure for the rest of the series) and...oh yeah, the Cylons show up insisting on peace through a domineering Cylon-run government.
I'm sure I'm missing a wealth of events that occur in the episode, but there is one defining moment that makes me love this episode and was responsible for me actually watching the series: the one year time jump. Other TV shows have tried this gimmick(coughAliascough) and most have failed. BSG did not. It actually made sense to have this leap in time, the show had been on for two years and in show time only a few months had passed. The time jump didn't harm the series, it reinvented it. Sharon Agathon, became likable (and loved by Adama) and a great character. Kara and Anders were married, as were Callie and Tyrol. The status quo was changed and it worked fabulously.
I can say no more greater praise of the episode than thanking the producers for creating a twist smart and interesting enough to spur my interest in the series. Thank you for that BSG producers!
2. Jim - Crossroads: Part 2 (Season 3, Episode 20)
I'll admit that I actually abandoned this show for a little while. The final four episodes of season three sat on my DVR for about five months. All the while Billy was cursing at me that I had to take the time to catch up and the final episode would knock my socks off like nothing this side of an Atmo-Jump. As usual, he was right. Once I watched these episodes I was locked in the rest of the way. I even tried convincing myself to no avail that is was a good thing I waited so there was less time to kill until season four debuted.
I love this episode enough to forgive them not using the Dylan version of the Song That Changes the Universe. The revelation of not one, not two, not three, but four of the Final Five Cylons, was a significant enough event that I didn't even gripe about the cliffhanger ending that completely caught me off guard and left off in the middle of a massive battle. That one of these revealed Cylon characters just happened to be my third favorite on the show was the icing on the cake. But it was such a wonderfully rare perfect blend of camera work, music, writing and performance that facilitated the reveal throughout the episode that made it even better and increased the re-watchability factor substantively.
1. Billy - The Hand of God (Season 1, Episode 10)
This one is easy for me: I like this episode because it is one of the very, very few episodes in the series that can be considered "happy." No foolin', people actually smile and there is some cheering and there is an awesome space battle and did I mention that people smile? I'm going to sound like such a little bitch here since I sing the praises of the show's dark atmosphere everywhere else and yet name a happy episode as my favorite, but I really don't care. Everything about this episode makes ME smile. In particular the raid on the tylium factory, I just love Starbuck's crazy juke maneuver that they pull on the Cylons by hiding the Vipers inside the cargo containers. This also happens to be the episode where Baltar finally buys into Head Six's notion of one true Cylon God.
Given that the series is built upon a solid foundation of doom and gloom, it's refreshing to break from that tradition now and again. It doesn't happen often (I'm crossing my fingers that "Daybreak Part 2" ends with a happy note, but I'm not holding my breath) making the occasions when it does happen so invigorating.
1. Jim - Rapture (Season 3, Episode 12)
Just how is my favorite episode one rife with the emotional baggage of the personally-reviled Kara/Lee pseudo-affair? Add a massive standoff over the mythical Eye to Jupiter and the competing goals of a path to Earth for the Colonials and the identity of the Final Five for the Cylons.
And it just doesn't get any better than Helo and Athena deciding to murder her on the off-chance she will download and save their baby from the Cylon Basestar. Tahmoh Penikett became my second favorite performer on the show in this scene, holding his wife's body and weeping to the Gods. A wonderfully rare example of an episode where every character has some deeper at stake than just survival, Weddle and Thompson once again mine every role for something deeper. The life and death of loved ones, the need to compromise their safety and multiple searches for meaning in a character's life (specifically D'Anna) all make this about something more important than a physical goal to be accomplished. Even the plot device used to set a time limit on the standoff (a supernova), is used to further develop characterization and motivation for Cavil over two years later in season four's "No Exit."
And that's really what Galactica has done best. It's served as a pitch-perfect example of the powers of serial storytelling as opposed to an adventure of the week. Everybody has something personal and desparate on the line and the massive goals of a society and personified through individual characters.
Bonus - Exodus: Part 2 (Season 3, Episode 4)
Billy - I could simply write Atmo-Jump over and over again to explain why I love this episode. Atmo-Jump, Atmo-Jump, Atmo-Jump. Ok, ok, that's enough. Atmo-Jump. For reals this time. I dearly love this episode because of the aforementioned (and aforementioned) Atmo-Jump, but really it's more to it than that, this episode marks the culmination of the New Caprica occupation storyline and it's huge. Exciting space battles (rest in peace Pegasus), spine tingling drama (you too, Ellen Tigh) and awesome ground action make this an episode to remember. Even without the Atmo-Jump this would be one of the greats, but with it? Well, it's so good that Jim and I couldn't pick who would get the privilege of honoring it. We couldn't fight over it, so we both took a shot at it. Besides, no one wants to see a fight over this episode it would end up looking like a fat guy rendition of the Spock/Kirk fight from "Amok Time" only there totally wouldn't be an awesome soundtrack to accompany the battle. Ok, maybe someone would want to see it, but comedy that great doesn't come free.
Jim - Since Billy and I would have come to blows over this one, the episode with the single coolest, most jaw-dropping sequence in television in years gets a bonus double-take. Ironically, the lowest rated episode ever at the time, this was the most powerful episode of the series to date. The action sequences both on the ground in New Caprica and in space above are as intense as anything else Ron Moore and company ever offered up. Michael Hogan goes to a very special place more than once in his performance as Tigh. Even if everyone has a personal stake on the line, he's the emotional linchpin of the episode between his interaction with his wife, Ellen, and reunion with hetero-life mate, Bill Adama. The series is never as powerful as when these two men share the screen be it in the miniseries, here, in "The Oath" or "Blood on the Scales" or anywhere else.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
That's a Wrap! Top Nine
Welcome to the That's a Wrap! TAWp Nine, where your faithful and intrepid That's a Wrap editors pick their top three favorite titles in a selected category. Together the picks combine to create VOLTRON! Well, ok, not quite as cool as robotic kitties of doom, but it's close. We combine the lists to form one super cool list of nine things that we really like.Given that this is Battlestar Galactica Week here, we thought it appropriate to show off our top scifi television shows. Of course, BSG itself and Lost are ineligible until they actually complete their runs. Don't feel bad though. We promise BSG isn't lonely here at TAW! this week... and someday Lost will get a week of their own. But for now, read on... if you dare...
3. Jim - Firefly (2002)
Some things aren't meant to last. Especially if the marketing and distribution for said thing is being handled by the morons at Fox. But this show was right up my alley from the word go. I love science fiction. I love westerns. Both are inundated with very basic ideas of a group being out on their own on the fringe of things with nothing to rely on but each other and their ship/horse. I mean there was a reason Gene Roddenberry first referred to Star Trek as "Wagon Train to the stars."
Perhaps because of its short run, I'm more protective of this show than Joss Whedon's other efforts. I fell in love with the entire cast in the first week (which thanks to Fox was actually the second chronological episode) and have always found the two-part premiere (which Fox showed last, after the show was canceled) one of the best pilots in the last decade and an excellent way to introduce the show to friends and family. And of course, this is the show that first showed many of us the utter cool that is Nathan Fillion... can't let that go unmentioned.
3. Garrett - Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
NBC's late-80's and early-90's foray into Quantum physics, Scott Bakula portrayed Dr. Sam Beckett who can time travel into different times throughout the course of his life, but into other people's bodies. Some of my favorite episodes included the one where he was Dr. Ruth, and of course the Leap Home. I have to laugh that the show starts in the year 1999 and he never leaps into the years 1993-1999 due to the fact that writers obviously had no clue how to tackle the future. Quantum Leap lasted only 97 episodes which is a good run for a sci-fi show. I guess all I have left to say is 'Oh, Boy!'
3. Billy - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
It might not be as coherent or good as Babylon 5 but it doesn't have to be. Comparisons to the two series were inevitable - both were set on space stations, both dealt with arc-based story telling, hell, both even had a story about alien xenophobia resulting in someone being branded on the head. Bizarre similarities aside, Deep Space Nine (executive produced by modern Battlestar Galactica creator Ron Moore) offered the kind of thought provoking story lines that we saw in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but with darker plots and deeper characters. You know it's not your dad's Star Trek when the main character hates Jean-Luc Picard and punches Q right in the kisser when they first meet.
But that's not what made DS9 great. No, DS9 took everything that was great about Star Trek and amplified it. We had real villians, who we got to know fairly well. Some complained that it was Star Trek without the ... ya know...star trekking, but the show was fine without planet hopping. Of course, when the producers introduced the Defiant it got even better. With the Defiant we could jump to other worlds whenever the show needed. Plus we got to see the most thrilling Trek space battles ever created.
At the very least there were no Borg episodes. Those were Star Trek Voyager's dead horse to beat.
2. Jim - Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001-2004)
There have been few times I've been more comfortable waving my DC fanboy banner than when this show was on. Evolving out of the Batman and Superman animated series of the time, this show helped make Hawkgirl and the John Stewart Green Lantern household names and had a big advantage over the earlier shows. While it's always fun to watch Batman being Batman and Superman being Jesus Christ reborn, its the different pair and team-dynamics that the larger roster allowed that helped improve and diversify the stories week after week.
It had been years since Marvel's X-Men series of the early 1990s went off the air. Since then there hasn't been a superhero team-based show to come close to JL/U. The more mature, multi-episode storytelling on the show makes it just as accessible to an adult audience as children... a necessary ingredient in any cartoon enduring. It's the main reason I cherish those Justice League DVDs and revisit them just about every year.
2. Garrett - Alf (1986-1990)
A sci-fi sitcom. Now there's a recipe you don't hear often. Another late-80's NBC show which became one of it's top programs. ALF (aka Gordon Schumway) has escaped from his planet Melmac which has been destroyed. Gordon has gotten lost in the universe and finally was stranded on planet Earth. He crashes into the garage of the Tanner family and comedy ensues. Most episodes involve ALF eating the Tanner's out of house and home and trying to hide from people coming to the door. ALF had a solid four year run, but oddly the show was left with a cliffhanger. A made-for-TV movie, Project ALF was made a few years after the show's run to try and tie the loose ends of the finale together, but it wasn't the same since the Tanner family was not in the film. Paul Fusco, the shows creator and voice behind ALF, still brings our furry alien out on occasion to make a quick buck so our love for this long nosed creature probably won't die.
2. Billy - Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007)
Never has a mediocre film produced such a fine television series (sorry, Jim, I still won't watch Friday Night Lights). Stargate (the film), bought to us by the auteur behind Independence Day, was an OK movie with plenty of potential that was just wasted. Thankfully, SG-1 picked up where the movie left off by adding new characters and expanding the mythology beyond the narrow scope of the movie. But all of that would be moot if not for the excellent portrayal of Jack O'Neill by Richard Dean Anderson. Anderson took the morose military man presented in the movie and created a sad, but funny and lovable main character. Anderson's O'Neill was just what the series needed to get off the ground and solidify the other characters. Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and Sam Carter might not have been the original draws for the series, but all soon became excellent parts of the show. One of the great things about SG-1 was the solid call backs to previous episodes. If a piece of alien technology was cool, you could expect to see it in a future episode, at least once.
It's not high art, in fact I would compare it to old pulp science fiction stories. SG-1 is a solid action-adventure sci-fi show. Though it may be gone, it certainly lives on with spin-offs and direct-to-dvd movies. After ten years of SG-1 it's hard to think of it as coming from a movie, it's grown beyond the film that spawned it to form a cult following that rivals even Star Trek.
1. Jim - Babylon 5 (1993-1998)
While I agree with Billy on his top choice, this show is a benchmark of the sci-fi genre worthy of any comparison to the other greats. The brain-child of writer J. Michael Straczynski, the entire series was designed like one of his novels. He went in with a prepared beginning, middle and end. This closed-ended storytelling was used to offer a more adult-oriented adventure than previous shows had and in the spirit of JMS' heroes Arthur C. Clarke and Frank Herbert, he wanted to create something that was both good science fiction and good television.
A more gritty and humanistic future than that of Roddenberry, Babylon 5 took huge leaps forward in visual effects and was forward-thinking enough to shoot the episodes in 16:9 and pioneered using the internet for promotion. That made them about a decade or more ahead of most of mainstream television. It's the middle three seasons that stand even higher above the bookend years. The arrival of John Sheridan and his war against the Shadows and his actions in opposition to a corrupt Earth government are as excellent as any stories told in this or any other medium and in this or any other genre. Good television and good sci-fi. Mission accomplished.
1. Garrett - Futurama (1999-2003)
In Matt Groening's go the future, we see just how crazy his take on the years to come can be. Futurama is essentially a workplace sitcom whose plot revolves around the Planet Express delivery company and its employees, a small group that doesn't conform to future society. Episodes mostly feature the central trio of Fry, Leela and Bender. Our show began with the character Fry, being unfrozen from the year 1999 to emerge in the 31st century in New New York City. This show has great comedic timing while working as a sci-fi cartoon. It is great to hear that next week Comedy Central will be taking over the exclusive syndication rights to the show and will be airing DVD movies broken up into original episodes.
1. Billy - The X-Files (1993-2002)
I was twelve years old when this series began. I remember watching it because I was both enamored and frightened by the "grey" alien phenomenon and I knew that it was going to be a major focus of the show. Little did I know that I would become such a staunch disciple of the show so many years later. I love this show so much that I revisit it on DVD once a year. I can say with very little hyperbole that this is my all-time favorite television show, sci-fi or otherwise. I am adamant in my praise that this is the greatest American television show of all time. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully's search for the truth of a vast conspiracy within our government was just the kind of anti-establishment show for the '90s.
The smart writing, creepy creatures and great acting all helped to make this show a must see for me and many other X-philes. I'm not sure if I can prove this, but I'm pretty sure The X-Files was the last Fox program to escape the FRIDAY NIGHT DEATH ZONE(tm) unscathed, that shit just doesn't happen! Friday nights are a black hole on Fox, sorry Dollhouse.
This show seems to catch a lot of flak for perceived weaknesses that I just don't see. Most people complain that the story was never resolved. It was. Several times in fact, so that the dullards in the audience could catch up. The biggest gripe that viewers had was Fox Mulder exiting the series. David Duchovny wanted to pursue his film career and skedaddled from the show. Robert Patrick (former killer robot in Terminator 2) joined the cast as Agent John Doggett. Many fans disliked the change, but I (usually an ardent hater of change) loved the new character and what he brought to the series. I will fully admit that it created such a new dynamic that it was practically a new series and probably should have garnered a spin-off title.
Understandably many people passed this series over because of the alien story, but to avoid it because of that is just absurd. It's so much more than aliens, I dare you to watch an episode like "Pusher," "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" or "Bad Blood" and not fall in love with this show. It's ridiculously good.
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Friday, March 6, 2009
That's a Wrap TAWp Nine Ten
Welcome to the That's A Wrap TAWp Today's question, in honor of the release of Watchmen, what are the best comic book films produced to date?
Hit the jump to find our answers!
Jim
The Rocketeer
(1991)
Yeah, that's right The Rocketeer, ya got a problem with that? Who needs to be a tortured and dark billionaire or a radioactive spider when you've got a rocketpack? I remain eternally tortured that these things aren't being mass produced yet. The movie was pretty much a flop, but I've always found it to be one of the most rewatchable films in my collection. It's not high art, but it's high fun with a wonderfully old school Hollywood-vibe throughout. Billy Campbell, Alan Arkin and a young, but totally gorgeous Jennifer Connelly are all good. My favorite two parts are Timothy Dalton as the Nazi spy/Erroll Flynn rip-off (he always worked better as a bad guy) and Terry O'Quinn as a completely inaccurate, but utterly enjoyable version of Howard Hughes.
Who knows how much better this Little Film That Didn't could have done if somebody at Disney didn't think that right before Terminator 2: Judgement Day was the perfect time to launch it. But hey, there should be a place in American comic book cinema for a movie where the FBI and mobsters overcome their differences to take on Nazi.
Billy
Hellboy(2004)
It may not be the most elegantly made film, it’s much longer than it needed to be and some of the special effects…aren’t special or effective. So why do I love this film? Because director Guillermo del Toro loves Hellboy and it shows in every frame of this movie. It’s X-Files meets the Cthulu mythos meets X-men, that might seem like a strange mash up, but trust me it works. It’s loud and oftentimes pretty as hell, no pun intended.
Del Toro is a king of prosthetic makeup effects, and he makes brilliant use of it here. Ron Perlman is damn near unrecognizable under all that red, but it’s the best performance of his career and I couldn’t see anyone else playing Big Red. Del Toro has been tasked to direct the upcoming film adaptation of The Hobbit, based solely on Hellboy I can say it’s in the right hands.
Jim
Road to Perdition (2002)
A rare exception on this list for me, I actually saw this film before I ever read the source material. This story of a father and his last surviving son, doing everything to get the boy somewhere safe is in fact a story told many times before. But that doesn't do much to diminish the fine journey that this movie is. Especially considering the film is viewed through the magnificent eye of cinematographer Conrad L. Hall.
I actually consider this Sam Mendes' best film (not being as high on American Beauty as many others). It was wonderful to experience the old-school gangster feeling of the piece, like something made decades ago reminding me often of Leone's Once Upon a Time in America. The slow burn to the climax works compared to the mile-a-minute action scenes that movies based on comics usually are constructed with. While Hanks and most of the other performances of the movie are fine, I'm continually delighted most of all watch a great like Paul Newman at the top of his form. His final scene out in the rainstorm never fails to devastate me, Newman and Hall both make this the absolute highlight of the piece.
Billy
Batman Begins(2005)
Sure, the majority of the work will say that The Dark Knight is the better film…and, well, it is. But it’s not the better comic book film. Batman Begins is undoubtedly one of the best comic book adaptations because it’s the first Batman movie to honestly make me care about the character. Sure I liked Burton’s Batman when I was a kid, but I was a kid. They really weren’t good movies; none of the Batman films were good—until Batman Begins.
Christopher Nolan made Batman and Bruce Wayne into distinct and complex characters. Hell, Nolan made Scarecrow into a legitimate villain! The acting (aside from one blemish, thankfully absent from the sequel) is all top notch. And while the story is more comic book-y than TDK, it’s still fantastic in it’s own right.
Jim
Superman (1978)
It might be X-Men that kicked off the most recent surge in comic book to film adaptations, but the grand-daddy of them all is Richard Donner's 1978 classic. Let's get it out there right now that for all the Wellings and Rouths, there hasn't been an actor that has come within six football fields of Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent. Even the ending I forever derided as hokey beyond belief has grown on me over time. It's still inexcusably silly, but I never call the movie on it.
A big part of my connection with this movie is the feeling that mine is probably the last generation that was still impressed by it. Even though I was born three years after its release, I still saw it at an age to be amazed by it. But now in an era of computer special effects, unfortunately there isn't that absolute wonder at seeing a man fly.
Billy
Sky High(2005)
Ok, ok, so this one is a little bit of a cheat since it’s not actually based on an existing comic property. But the thing is, Sky High is so true to the spirit of a comic book. Sure it’s a Disney movie and it stars a bunch of no-name kids(who went on to illustrious careers as annoying guest stars on 24 and Jason fodder in Friday the 13th) in high school and maybe there is a little too much tweener dating nonsense in it, but is one of the funniest and spot-on brilliant comic book satires ever made.
Aside from the unknowns in the main cast, the rest of the credits include names intended to make nerd hearts swoon: Bruce Campbell, Kurt Russell, Kevin (Liter of cola) Heffernan, Lynda Carter and Dave Foley. Just to name a few. It’s goofy, it’s got a somewhat predictable story, but it’s also funny as hell and loads of fun.
Jim
Spider-man 2(2004)
Quite simply the far and away the best of the explosion of films from Marvel in the last decade. Sam Raimi bring the same humor and sense of whiz-bang fun he had first touched into years before with his Evil Dead series. With a budget earned by the enormous success of the origin film, Raimi certainly upped his game. Until recently there wasn't even a close competitor to this comic book movie, at least in nothing from Marvel or DC's mainstream.
It's one of the few instances where the characters and performances of a big summer event film felt like they held their own with the CGI-created action sequences. The two big differences between this film and the others in the series are making Alfred Molina's Doc Ock (a far more interesting and credible performance than any villain in the other two) and the approach of making the absolute most of the time spend out of the costume. Here they are freed from the standard restraints of the origin story, but seem to overindulge themselves with the vaudvillian approach to Peter Parker's everday life. Instead everything is tightened up and almost no screen time is wasted.
Billy
A History of Violence(2005)
Man, 2005 was a good year for comic book films, and AHOV was most definitely the crown jewel of that year. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, AHOV tells the story of small town café owner Tom Mckenna and the lie that threatens to tear his family apart. The acting is terrific. Viggo Mortensen is extremely compelling as Tom and William Hurt was nominated for an Oscar for his work in the film—which comprises only the last ten minutes.
Graphic violence and…well…violently graphic sex make this film difficult at times to watch but the story is fantastic and the direction by David Cronenberg is a joy to behold. For all the talk of The Dark Knight being a gritty, dark, crime film—AHOV did it first and did it better.
Jim
The Dark Knight (2008)
This is the one film on the list that I feel absolutely certain in claiming it as the best picture of the year. More of a crime opera in the vein of Michael Mann's Heat than a superhero story, the second film did more to push the envelope of what we should expect from this genre than anything in the previous 30 years. As a director, Christopher Nolan actually managed to top his first movie in his reboot of the series and even his work on The Prestige. It's one of the very few comic book movies to have merited a conversation as being something more artistic than a well-made blockbuster.
For all the many fine performances in the film, particularly Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon, its by now common knowledge that Heath Ledger... oh, um... excuse me... ACADEMY AWARD WINNER Heath Ledger steal the show as the Joker in a performance worthy of comparison to virtually everything that has come before it. Now, I'm not going all fanboy and calling it the best job ever, better than De Niro or Pacino or Brando or other greats, but I wouldn't laugh anyone out of the room for making the comparison. Until this, it's hard to remember the last time I went into a film with and was actually blown away with something better than I expected. Often these comic book characters are so important to the target audience that grew up with them, we come in expecting so much that it's almost impossible for any film to do more than meet expectations. For one rare evening last summer, I was more than impressed.
Billy American Splendor(2003)
From off the streets of Cleveland comes: The greatest comic book film ever produced. American Splendor tells us the life story of comic author Harvey Pekar, a regular joe trying to make it through life the best he can. Mixing actors and their real life counterparts as well as animated and static comic panels, American Splendor could have ended up as an incomprehensible mess. It’s not. Instead it’s a charming, funny, moving, and intelligent film.
One of my gripes about Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon was the documentary style interviews with characters from the film discussing real life events. American Splendor shares many of the storytelling devices of Frost/Nixon except we get the pleasure of seeing the real life people tell us the story in their own words. You hear that Academy? Better than a best picture nominee!
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