Charmed

In time for my 100th post, I finally finished all eight seasons of Charmed! It has been a long journey, which for me started back in March of 2011. I've watched it off and on since then taking a break when Prue leaves and then Cole. The show went through a lot of up and downs. Throughout the show's run, my favorite sister alternated between Pheobe and Piper and it probably had to do with who Pheobe was dating and the state of Piper and Leo's relationship. Seasons 6, 7 and even 8 were a little hard to watch. I am a romantic at heart so I was tired of Piper and Leo constantly being broken up. They were sort of the Ross and Rachel of the show and they could never be happy and it got old after a while. The whole storyline of Leo becoming an Elder and then an Avatar was horrendous. It was just another obstacle to put between him and Piper and one with serious fashion mishaps. I mean those robes! After he was finished with the Elder and Avatar personalities, and his insanity he goes back to being mortal. I'm not so sure I enjoyed that. He played such a role as the Charmed one's Whitelighter, being able to heal them and get information. Once he became a mortal his role was almost obsolete - which again caused problems for him and Piper. He was given the run-around which zaps the energy out of the show.

And then there's Cole.

I absolutely loved Cole. I was all about Cole and Pheobe, but again their relationship got too convoluted. The whole Source storyline of the 4th season made me want to stop watching. Cole's constant struggle between good and evil was tiresome. At the beginning you were hopeful, when you thought maybe he could overcome his evil, demonic side but the show used too many soap opera tricks to make it clear that Cole could never truly be good. In season 5, after coming back from the wasteland to win Pheobe back my romantic heart flared up again. Here was a man driven by love and although he was most certainty evil, he was trying. I just think the show tried to hold on to him for too long. He should have died for good when he essentially tried to commit suicide by provoking the sisters to attack. It was such a beautiful gesture and would have been perfect but no, the show just had to screw it up and cause his character to go insane. From then on his character took a turn for the worst and his final death was anti-climatic.

After Cole, Pheobe had a succession of lovers, including McSteamy himself! I enjoyed seeing Eric Dane so young and wished he had stuck around a bit a longer. Nick Lachey was fun as was Jason Lewis (who would later been seen in Sex in the City. Ironically Charmed did a Sex in the City themed episode which he was in but it was the worst Charmed episode). Billy Zane was a hoot. I only know him as the bad guy from Titanic so it was great seeing him in such a fun loving role. And the connection between Zane's character and Cole made me happy. Although Zane was close to holding a candle against Cole, the closet was Victor Webster as Coop the Cupid. It must have something to do with the fact that all three men are tall and have dark hair and brooding looks. I just wish we had seen more of Coop in season 8. It was a shame he was kind of just thrown in there to create a happy ending for the finale. The last four episodes are all geared towards the final battle which unfortunately takes away from the budding romance between Pheobe and Coop. I wish there was more of Coop. It was too short of an introduction for a character. I did enjoy the bit where future Wyatt addresses him as Uncle Coop.

That brings me to the Charmed children, Chris and Wyatt. When Chris first came on the show I was sure if he was a good guy or a bad guy. The show did a good job on disguising his identity although I had an inkling of who he was. I was upset at him for making Leo an elder but I got used to him and enjoyed him. In fact when I saw his name in the credits in season 8 I was excited. They really missed an opportunity of a spin-off show with Chris and Wyatt. That would be something I would be interested in seeing. Having Chris and Wyatt as children runs the risk every show has that involves children, they are often forgotten or shipped off somewhere so the main story could proceed without any baggage. This became a bit of a noticeable problem.

Once future Chris left then they brought in Billie who was not as entertaining as Chris. I don't really know where here character came from. Now having seen everything it makes sense but at the beginning she's an annoying witch. She was too easily manipulated for my tastes. Her character created an opportunity to give the Charmed Ones a reprieve as they adopted new identities. That storyline lasted way too long and was just ridiculous. It was more like they needed an answer on how they could extend the season 22 episodes. Although I'm glad the ending of Charmed was not them taking on new identities and that they ended with the season 8 finale where everyone is happy and old with lots of children.

All that is left are the two other Halliwell sisters, Prue and Paige. It's been such a long time since season three with Prue. I knew she would be leaving the show because I remember hearing the news when it was actually airing so I was prepared for it. Still, it was hard to get used to a new sister. I didn't like Paige at first but I grew to like her. Although she's the same age as Piper in real life she looks a lot younger and wore a lot less clothes. They could have done worse with Prue's replacement.

Since I've touched on the other sister's love lives. I might as well talk about Paige's, especially because her final man, Henry was a lot like Coop in fact that we didn't get to know him all that well before they said I do. Again they were thrown together and I could never tell whether or not Paige really loved him. Maybe they just didn't have good chemistry and that's why I didn't much care for him. I preferred Richard or Agent Brody. 

Charmed was a great show even with its missteps and it provided a voice for women on television which is so often lacking and became the longest running one-hour drama to have the main cast led by women which is quite the achievement. With Charmed there has been a perception that there was a rivalry between Charmed and Buffy, one which Charmed never quite lived up to. Now that I've seen both in full I think I enjoyed Charmed more because there was more variety; a new demon every week vs. just another vampire. There was more character development that made sense and I was emotionally invested in the characters of Charmed over Buffy. It didn't hurt that Charmed had a nice and neat closure to the series which I greatly appreciated. Of course, watching it now, I think I can identify with the characters better then if I had seen it when it originally aired. For me, coming to the end of Charmed was bittersweet, saying goodbye to characters I had grown to know. Although I was glad to finally reach the end, it will be weird to not watch Charmed now after cramming eight years of the character's lives into nearly two years of mine. 

Even writing this blog post I'm having trouble letting go but I am consoled in the fact that the battle between good and evil will always be safe in the hands of the Charmed ones and I can always return to the power of three through DVD.

The Fat Quiz of the Year (00's, 90's, 80's and 2012)

It's that time of year again where British comedians gather to make jokes about the happenings of the past year. As I waited for The Big  Fat Quiz of 2012 to appear for my viewing pleasure I checked out The Big Fat Quiz of the 00's, 90's and 80's which had been broadcast back in September but which I had unfortunately not been aware of at the time.

These decade shows were a good way to past the time. I missed having the team names in both the 90s and 80s. I know the team names are only introduced at the start of the show but when you have Richard Ayoade and Noel Fielding coming up with Hot Shame and the Indoor Kites it's worth the giggle. Like always, they were a good team.

I enjoyed the guest in the 90s show which included Alan Davies, Dara O'Briain and Jack Whitehall. Whitehall was a fun addition because we're close to the same age so I connected with his excitement over certain things like Bewitched. O'Briain's miming and accents made for enjoyable moments. It was funny but not quite memorable. The 80s show was not something I was looking forward to because I cannot stand Micky Flanagan. I don't think he is funny. In fact, I find his material cringe worthy. However, I found him the slightest bit humorous in this show. He had his moments. 

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2012, was, I have to say, a bit saucier than usual, not that I didn't enjoy it any less.

The show has even garnered attacks from The Daily Mail, although I don't think that's really hard to do.

It seems like people are specially upset with Jack Whitehall because his jokes were so out of character and I kind of felt like Whitehall was putting on this air of lewdness especially compared with his performance in the Big Fat Quiz of the 90s. His was completely embarrassed by his answer to the Obama question.  Whitehall and James Corden were quite the pair. Getting the pizza delivered and drinking a bottle of wine each was very frat boy, but seeing Jimmy Carr a bit confused at what was happening was quite the achievement given the fact that Noel Fielding wasn't on the show.

That was what was missing for me, the fact that Noel Fielding wasn't there. Richard Ayoade tried his best but unfortunately this year was partnered with a know-it in Gabby Logan. As a fan of the show I'm used to Ayoade giving absurd answers which he did but it wasn't as enjoyable with the dead weight of Logan. I almost feel like they should have switched Logan with Howard. Although Howard and Ross where a good team and gelled well together.

Really the highlight of the show was Charles Dance reading an excerpt from 50 Shades of Grey.

The Back-up Plan

I had been looking forward to seeing this film ever since I saw the trailer but maybe I didn't even need to see the trailer just see who was in it. I love Jennifer Lopez' work, her romantic comedies are great but the draw for me was Alex O'Loughin who I have loved since Moonlight. It was nice to see him in a feature film as a leading man. Although, because I had so much expectations for this film, I had a long way to fall and this of course was the second of two films I bought without seeing first which always adds in a second danger. Unlike Magic Mike, The Back-up Plan did not disappoint. It was fabulous!

A tried and true formula of boy meets girl with a bit of a modern twist. I am in no way arguing for the originality of the film but merely suggesting it doesn't hamper the viewing experience at all. It was funny. Really that is the most important bit of a romantic comedy. Besides for The Break Up, you know how the film is going to end and no matter the trails and tribulations the couple goes through they will end up happily ever after. What you have to work with to make the romantic comedy stand out in the sea of Rom-Coms is the comedy bit. I haven't laugh out loud that much in a long time while watching a Rom-Com. It was so funny and Jennifer Lopez had perfect timing.

This scene was perhaps my favorite and it was Lopez that really drove the comedy in the film. O'Loughlin was more of the straight man but they worked together well and had decent chemistry. A minor problem I had with the film was the supporting cast. I crazed single mother group is a little overdone but somehow recently the reaction to women giving birth has become a comedic device. Lopez's pet shop friends were not fleshed out enough to add anything substantial. The guy she asks to be the sperm donor ended up in love with her without ever really pushing that throughout the film so at the end you're left with a weird feeling as he looks on at the couple's engagement. Some of the deleted scenes helped with his character arc but it was something not needed and just complicated the otherwise fun film. Lopez's friend who already had four kids added something and more time should have just been focused on her. O'Loughlin's side character of the playground Dad, played brilliantly by Anthony Anderson was needed and I even wanted a bit more of them together. I'll concede that it was a bit of a cliche but it worked; plus Anderson worked the comedy bit which was needed while Lopez wasn't onscreen.

There were some awkward moments of trying to get their relationship on the fast track - case in point the cheese barn - but because I had such a great time watching it, these moments in my mind, can be overlooked.

Magic Mike

After the disastrous results of Sexy Beast, where I bought the film based on the trailer before ever having seen it, I promised myself never to buy a film I hadn't seen again. I broke my promise this past weekend as I spent the Christmas money I was given on not one but two films I had not seen before.

Magic Mike one of the two films (the other being The Back Up Plan) was not as disastrous as Sexy Beast but I don't know if it was good enough to buy. My consolation is that the price of buying the DVD which I get to keep forever was the same price as buying a one-time theater ticket. Unfortunately, I fear, much like Sexy Beast that the best parts of Magic Mike were in the trailer.

The film was not what I was expecting and it felt like two different films were trying to be put together. It was both slow and fast and grainy and smooth. I felt like the film struggled with putting a story together around male strippers which had successfully been done with The Full Monty. The Full Monty may have been missing the eye candy and dance moves that Magic Mike had but it had a good story that kept you interested the entire film. Magic Mike on the other hand felt more like the filmmakers were obsessed with the idea of making a film about male strippers but did not know how to put it together. Steven Soderbergh's films for me are a mixed bag - you have the good ones like The Ocean Films and Erin Brockovitch and then you have the bad ones like Traffic and Solaris. Magic Mike is kind of a mix of both the good and the bad.

The dance scenes where obviously the best parts of the movie and was really the selling point of the film, however, the dance scenes were few and far between as the film focused more on the lifestyle outside the club. Drugs, drinking and women all done with no soundtrack which was highly unnerving. The lack of soundtrack I think was the main detracting point. The film was quite boring at these points and as an audience you were not invested in the plot at all. You knew from that start that the money Mike had saved would be used to bail the brother out somehow allowing Mike to get with the sister and that Mike would break from the club. I wanted to break away from these nitty gritty moments of reality and retreat to the dance scenes which were highly stylized, at least compared with the rest of the film. There was lights, music and lets face it, lots of eye candy. Although I saw way more of Matthew McConaughey then I ever bargained for.

Overall Magic Mike was a disappointment. The dancing was good but I guess if I want to see Channing Tatum dance I'll watch Step Up instead.

Temple Grandin

            Temple Grandin is a film about a young woman's struggle with autism without focusing all that much on autism. It seems rather hard to explain that concept but what I mean by it is that the film is more concerned with Temple as a person rather than a person with autism. Autism in this film is clearly a gift, although at times also a burden when it comes to social interactions. I would have never come across this film and watched it, if it hadn't been a class requirement. I don't normally like films dealing with mental disabilities, case in point I have never seen I Am Sam or My Names is Khan and probably never will, even though I love the actors in the latter film.

            The real gem of this film is Claire Danes as the title character. She looks and sounds completely different from her previous roles. She had completely become this character and has made her believable and vulnerable. The one thing that really sticks with me is the voice she uses which adds so much to her character. Every aspect, her looks, voice and body language all work together to portray this character and bring her alive. Danes did an amazing job and I would argue her best work, although I am judging it against Romeo + Juliet and The Mod Squad. Either way this was an excellent pick for her.

            The soundtrack was also amazing and fit the tone of the film. It allowed the audience a way into how Temple's mental process works. It added to the character in a major way and yet with such subtly. The music envelopes you through the whole film but is seductive in a strange way. Because it is matched so well to the visualizations you don't notice it as much.

            The visualizations are another top notch aspect of this film. Similar to A Beautiful Mind it breaks down the process visually as well as musically. The cuts in between shots as she visualizes are quick and shows us rather than tells us how quick her mind works. Every element of this film tells us something about Temple as a person.

The end I think was spectacular and brought the film to a broader meaning. Really the film, as I've said, is about a woman's struggle and autism is only a factor. The focus is on Temple and not her disability, however, at the end when she is asked to speak at the autism convention the film validates itself. It was extremely clever. It gave Temple the chance to validate her mother's sacrifices which we want to see as an audience. At the beginning, the mother seems rather harsh, cold and distant, but at the film progresses through the narrative and you come to understand what she had gone through the audience gets a better understanding of her and feel sorry for her. The end is a nice payoff for the mother and the audience.

            Seeing the progression of her life and how she learned to manage her autism was awe inspiring but there were still flaws. Being a vegetarian, I did not like the cattle slaughtering scenes and in fact I had to look away. It made a nice connection to when Chestnut the horse and her science teacher played by David Strathairn but was still something I did not want to see. The other thing that really bothered me was the structure of the film. I felt it was a bit hard to follow with the many time jumps. It was clear enough I felt. I understand the non-linear approach but I felt lost at times and felt it would have been better served placing scenes in a different order. The one scene in particular was when the doctor visit happens when Temple is four.

            Overall, the film was a joy to watch, although perhaps a little long. I did find myself checking my watch every now and then. The film packed in a lot in a small amount of time but because of the breadth of information the audience begins to fidget. Even with its length I would recommend it as an inspiring film and Danes' best work.

Zodiac

Zodiac was nothing like what I was expecting and I'm still trying to figure out if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I was reluctant at first to see the film because I'm not a fan of horror films, I get too scared and can't sleep at night and since this was based on true events and was all about murder I had my reservations. Surprisingly, the film wasn't that scary. In fact it wasn't about the murders per se but rather about the detective work and puzzle solving surrounding the murders. The murders themselves were pretty gruesome but compared to what other films have portrayed it's pretty mild. The film reminded me of All the President's Men because it was slow, drawn out and focused on the detective work. I did watch the director's cut so the theatrical version might be shorter and not give that same effect but still there isn't much action in the film. The film does a good job in showing the frustration of bureaucratic red tape and the problems involved when coordinating with other police jurisdictions. Everything seemed to be pointed to one person, Leigh Allen, but yet they couldn't convict him because they only had circumstantial evidence. You felt the frustration from the characters as well as the fear as they were targeted.

Another great cast for a film. Robert Downy Jr. has become a favorite of mine in recent years and he was no disappointment here except for the fact that he exited the film early on. However, his rapid deterioration in the film as Paul Avery was hard to watch in terms of feeling sorry for him but it was good. You get to see how the Zodiac wears him down. Two scenes stood out for me with Robert Downing Jr. which were both comedic moments. The first is when he gets a drink with Robert Graysmith played by Jake Gyllenhall. It's such a random scene but yet fits in with the building of their relationship. Robert Downy Jr. plays is so well. The second scene is when he gets the halloween card in the mail from the Zodiac with a piece of the cabbies' shirt. It's creepy because now he is being targeted but yet funny at the same time because how he reacts.
Jake Gyllenhaal was also good in this film although his character was a bit understated. I felt like they could have done a better job at fleshing out his character at the beginning. I guess my main problem with his character is that I was expecting an amazing puzzle solver in the vein of Nicholas Cage in National Treasure or Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones. More of the adventure puzzle solver which I didn't get in Zodiac. Although this was annoying, I applaud the fact that David Fincher didn't go all Hollywood on us and make Robert Graysmith a master puzzle solver.

The structure of these two characters paralleled each other and you knew that once Avery left that Graysmith would take up the mantel and you felt even worse for him because he gave up his family to track down the Zodiac without any real luck. We knew he had already been divorced once and knew it was going to happen again as his obsession with Zodiac grew. The sad thing was having his kids help him. It was frustrating to see a man go so deep into his obsession that he puts himself into dangerous positions.
Mark Ruffalo was the other main actor who was great to see. His voice made the role for him. Both him and Anthony Edwards made a great pair. They had great chemistry and I enjoyed the animal crackers gag that ran the film. Once again, like all the characters in this film you felt sorry for Ruffalo. Not able to catch the Zodiac and then being accused of writing a Zodiac letter. His whole life tumbles in around him but unlike Graysmith, he takes himself out of the situation. Admits defeat. He does help Graysmith in round about ways as he's researching for his book and gets caught up in the case when more evidence is pointing towards Leigh Allen. But, he knows when to stop and somehow you're almost thankful for that.
The film is so circular and the characters just get caught up in this cycle unable to break it by either getting out or by solving the case. As an audience, you feel frustrated. Part of the genius of the film is making the enjoyment come from the detection of how each of the characters sifts through the evidence and comes to their conclusions rather then find out who the Zodiac is. The audience in a way, is an extension of the character's in the narrative and through them we feel frustrated that we can't charge the main suspect which all the evidence points to or know for sure without any doubt that Leigh Allen is the killer because he dies. I think because of this lack of closure for the characters and the audience, the audience is forced to find enjoyment through the detective work. Much like All the President's Men and "Deep Throat" although now Deep Throat his been revealed whereas there will never be a way to concretely say that Leigh Allen is the Zodiac.

The tone of this film is very much on one level. There isn't much color in the film after the lovely green and yellow top Robert Downy Jr, is sporting at the first editorial meeting and the mood of the film fits. However, there are little spurts of comedy. The comedy in this film was well placed but yet you feel as if you shouldn't be laughing. When the Zodiac kills the two people by the lake the male victim says the things that you wish you could say if you were going to be killed. You come to the realization that this guy is going to kill you and you can do nothing about it so you become heavily sarcastic and really just a smart ass. It was a strange scene because you have this balance of comedy and horror but it works.
The one thing that really stood out for me throughout the entire film was the passage of time. Obviously this case spanned a few decades. We begin the movie in 1968 and end in 1991 with an epilogue text in the 2000s. There was the usual time titles for various events but when there was a significant jump in time the film did some unique things like the process of a building being built and the radio noise overlaying a black screen. It is so unusual to be presented with a black screen that it was a good effect. At first you don't quite know what's going on but then the black screen just endures and you put things together realizing that time is passing and you renter the narrative several years down the line.
The film made you think which is always a good sign of a well though out and crafted film. It wasn't overtly scary, I did have some moments last night when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep because I was thinking about the Zodiac killer, but it had just the right about of suspense.

The Illusionist

When it came out, The Illusionist was overshadowed by Christopher Nolan's The Prestige because both were about magicians but the two movies couldn't be further from each other in terms of content. The Illusionist is a romance with a great twist. The story starts with the arrest of Eisenheim (Edward Norton) and goes back in time to tell the story up and through the beginning scene. I loved the story as it played with my expectations. You knew that Eisenheim would be reunited with his lost love but the story seemed to prevent the happy union when Sophia (Jessical Biel) died, only to finally unveil the fact that Sophia and Eisenheim had faked her death in order to be together.
The cast was phenomenal because they all really became their roles and it was hard to see them as themselves. The all took on slight Austrian accents that masked their true voice just enough that you wouldn't be able to recognize them from their voice. Rufus Sewell perhaps looked too much like Jude Law in this film that I often got distracted. He does play a good bad guy though, Rufus Sewell that is. I'm not a huge fan of Jessica Biel but I didn't recognize her in this film which made it fun to watch not that she had a major part anyways. The girl who played the younger version of herself was amazing in the fact that you could see her growing up into Biel, not so much for the young guy they had playing Norton's character. Which brings me to Edward Norton who was amazing. It might be one of my favorite roles of his, although there hasn't been one which I didn't like. I wouldn't think that Norton would be cast as the leading man, he doesn't have that look but for this film it really works. He didn't do much with his body in terms of conveying emotion but it was all done with his facial expression and especially his eyes. When he's bringing Sophia "back from the dead" the emotion in his eyes is just gut wrenching. And to top it off his line of why he did it, "just to be with her." Oh, how my heart flutters, helped along by the fact that you don't think Sophia has survived. Paul Giamatti had the role of a lifetime. It was his best role I've seen and so far removed from what he has done previously. He takes very well to the Austrian-Hungary look and looks completely different. I think he has the most dramatic transformation in look and voice. He still has his eyes which are great to watch and tell you so much but they work with his character instead of standing out apart from his character.
The film was perhaps a bit slow but I enjoyed it and it seemed very European, probably another reason why The Prestige won out. There wasn't much action to the story which could make it seem dry to others but there was plenty of emotion through the characters, well mainly Norton for gut wrenching and Sewell for anger. The most memorable scene for me was when Norton kisses Biel for the first time after they met. This is the first scene with a lot of raw emotion that picks the film up. You can feel Norton's passion through the screen.

Every part of the film works together to brings us this masterpiece. What I took particular note of was the cinematography and the mise-en-scene. The film is shot is almost a quirky way using a lot of irises at the beginning but it works I think because of the tone of the film and the fact that it is set in the past allowing for that time of editing to work. The first half of the film uses the irises and keeps the iris faded at the edge of the screen to make it easier to see it in use of editing. The iris is not abruptly used which is another reason why it works well and doesn't disrupt contentnioity. Eisenheim begin the film with a grandeous set, very over the top with an announcer and butterflies. But by the end of the film the irises have left and Eisenheim is left with a chair on the stage and nothing else. The most beautiful shot in the entire film is when the camera is behind the curtains as they open to see a chair on the stage as Eisenheim walks in. The shot is breathtaking. The film becomes very minimalist but in a subtle way that don't necessarily realize until the very end when the more fantasy element though the use of the irises returns as Giamatti and the audience realizes that they got away.
When we return to where we entered the story everything starts to fall into place but you never think from watching the film up till this point that it would proceed in this manner. The illusion now is that Eisenheim has made himself the illusion. Made himself and Sophia disappear. When it comes to fruition that Eisenheim is not really there, what a great twist, and everything builds on that. In the hunt to find Eisenheim, the chief inspector stumbles upon the clues to lead him to the crowned prince and arrest him for murder. The sad thing about the story which you don't really think about until later is that in order to have their happy ending, the crowned prince kills himself even though he was right all along. Eisenheim did manipulate the inspector and left him clues to lead him to the wrong man. From the beginning the crowned prince was set out as a bad man so the film justifies it in that way.
The one problem I had with the film was the very ending where we find out what really happened, how Sophia's death was faked but I'm not sure there were enough clues or the clues were too subtle to pick up on that this ending seems plausible. The same problems exist for heist films. You want the audience to be surprised but still follow along after having been tricked. Although I though when Sophia had first died that maybe they had just faked her death but my hopes were dashed as I saw no way for that to happen. Esienheim/Norton gave no hint about what had happened. The scene where he finds her body in the lake was another great emotional scene but seemed like real pain making it seem as if she had really died. Plus he was so adamant that the crowned prince had killed her.
This problem area can be overlooked by the love story which is sweet, minus the necessary suicide, by uniting two lovers from different sides of the tracks.