Even though it’s been nearly a week since the madness of DragonCon 2008, I’ve had time to fully absorb my experience. During this time of contemplation and nostalgia, I realized that a DragonCon top ten list was totally necessary. So, here it is. The list of things that I have realized made that weekend both unforgettable as well as my coming-out into official nerdom.
10. DragonCon TV bumpers. During those tedious and anxious moments before the panels start and you load your camera batteries, these Adult Swim rip-offs were awesome. Commentating on everything from Lord of the Rings to Anime, these had me and thousands of others laughing our asses off.
9. BSG fans. Where else can I go in the world, random meet people and start passionately discussing BSG? The answer is simple nowhere. Standing or sitting in endless lines, I loved meeting new people and hearing them gush over the show…although…those Kara/Lee fans can get pretty damn scary. Ultimately, it made me feel like a part of the BSG family that the actors so often praise.
8. Shopping. What can I say? This place had everything to make a nerd’s heart squee. Badges, t-shirts, cups, card…my cousin and I went spending wild and found some awesome little treats.
7. Costumes. Princess Leia and Darth Vader. More Storm Troopers than were ever probably a part of the Empire. Half naked, painted women smiling for pictures. I loved seeing the passion and fun fans can truly only experience in sci-fi. Hopefully, next year I will be out and totally representing my favorite fandoms as well.
6. The Night Life. Although I couldn’t really experience it this year because of circumstances beyond my control, it sounded pretty awesome. The Colonial Fleet party is the stuff of conventions legends that I fully intend to experience again next year. Bands, booze, and lots of fans makes a great time to be had by all.
5. Finally finding out what the fuck Blade Runner is really about. I took an hour and a half and EJO to do it, but I finally understand what that fucking movie is about. It was a moment akin to a revelation when EJO just says “Harrison Ford is a replicanet because…” and then I wanted to hit myself in the head and say “duh!” If I had actually paid real attention when I was watching the damn movie, I think this panel would have been even better than it was to me.
4. The panels. I made this holy BSG pilgrimage for these amazing panels and, for the most part, I was not disappointed. I saw the real attitudes and heard the real voices of the men behind the characters and got no spoilers as I expected. I wish the Stargate panel had been more awesome for my cousin, but it’s really the moderator, not the fans, which make these panels worth it. And the fan panels…well…that’s for another blog.
3. Having James Callis start down my blouse for a portion of his BSG panel. Whoever said breasts aren’t magical has never worn a low cut shirt to a sci-fi convention and sat in the front row. What’s the most awesome thing is that I totally did not notice that he was even doing it. What can I say…my chest has hypnotic powers over all men, famous and not.
2. Getting to see Becca. It had been nearly a decade since I had at least seen my cousin and we totally clicked. It was awesome to share and bitch about this weekend with someone else and she turned out to be the perfect person for the job. Wooo! Family members rock!
1. Saturday’s BSG panel. By far, the best BSG panel with EJO sharing so much juicy set side information and stories about Mary. The rest of the guys were lively and now totally comfortable with the audience and really let go. But what I will remember the most was the last 20 or so seconds of this panel. EJO, my spacedaddy, had a room of over 2,300 people on their feet as he basically re-enacted the most awesome BSG scene ever – the mini-series epic finale scene. He had that many people (as many people as were on the Galatica’s hanger desk in that scene) screaming “so say we all” at the top of their lungs with fists in the air – my cousin included. If that didn’t make a fan’s heart squee, I don’t know what will.
These memories are so awesome and I can’t wait till next year already.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Brillanetly Bleak
When a film has the kind of critical and festival buzz that was generated in 2007 for “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days,” you expect to see a film of sheer brilliance—happily this film lives up to its stellar reputation. A product of the important and thriving film community coming out of the former Soviet Union, the film is a bleak and claustrophiabc look at how humans essentially dehumanized each other under the Communist mantra. A tightly writeen and intimately shot piece, “4 Months” succeeds because of the sheer audacity it brings to life in telling the story of two struggling and helpless young women in oppressive 1987 Romania.
From the first shot of the film, the audience knows that this is a world where the illusion of freedom is kept thriving to keep the populace in line – two gold fish keep swimming against the glass of their bowl over and over again with a picture of a city behind them, never able to really move freely. The cramped dorm room of the two girls, the impersonal and bland hotel room where the abortion takes place, the endless parade of hallways that lead nowhere – everything in these girls lives is enclosing and stifling.
I loved the way the director made careful use of ambient noise in this film. There are no musical interludes and sometimes the only sounds are car horns and panting breaths, a symphony of humanity in the worst possible key. In particular, the sound of running water was literally chilling in the film and turned from an inocous noise into an ominous one in a single scene. Masking the sounds of rape in the room opposite as each girl pays for the serves of the abortionist, the sound of running water blocks out the sounds of the assault and then serves to represent the girls’ guilt and disgust. At the end of the film, the only sounds that survive the now pregnant and oppressive silence between the two women caused by their actions is the repetition of passing cars, seeming to signify that the monotonous nature of their lives will push on and not allow them to feel anything.
Going back to intimacy in the film in terms of the camera, I have to say that it was a brilliant turn by the director considering the sheer impersonal nature of the world they live in. The camera here, varying in perspective and often moving from the steady to the blurry, never falls to capture simple gestures and expressions that in turn, capture the mood of the scene. A simple two shot becomes a symbol of oppression hopelessness or the close up of a young woman with eyes closed sitting in a bathroom a moment of intense pain and personal hatred. The film might not win any cinematography awards, but any real films students knows the importance of a tightly edited close up and just how long a shot needs to be held for audience impact – apparently this director was paying attention in film class and for that I appreciate it.
Europe, particularly this area, is still finding its cinematic voice and in turn continues to delve into those periods of its past where the most pain was caused.
Europe, particularly this area, is still finding its cinematic voice and in turn continues to delve into those periods of its past where the most pain was caused.
Unlike American films that often shy away from gritty realism and telling a simple human story, “4 Weeks” is so refreshing in its darkness if that makes any sense to anyone. I mean that film is neither pretentious nor seeming to illustrate some great social truth – it is simply a story the director feels needs to be told about the sacrifice of freedom can lead people to do. This is a particular dark period in Romania’s history in the 1980s, an obviously ugly and drab time of helplessness and fear that had yet to be really explored with such depth and maturity. If examine their part through the cinematic lenses helps give these people a sense of social and historical clarity, we totally need to push them to do this again.
This film deeply touched and affected me and I think there is just one scene that will stay in my mind and I might even revisit. A simple medium shot of a bathroom lit in stark white light…a bloody pile of towels and sheets…the otherwise indistinguishable human face of an aborted baby that no one takes the time to see. It (neither male nor female to the audience) is wrapped in towels, stuffed in a purse and eventually tossed out a garbage shoot by a young girl who has suffered rape and degraded to pay for its death. That tiny, bloody face stays in the farm for nearly a solid minute before you even realize what you are seeing and then it’s gone and I sat up and said “oh my god” – I had no words to for the feelings that scene brought up and I think it will take time to really express what I felt.
Maybe I was sorry to see what women went through in a different time and a different place where they cannot enjoy the freedoms I have.
Maybe I was surprised that a director had the guts to show an aborted fetus on screen without batting a cinematic eye.
Maybe I cannot believe that human life was ever valued so cheaply
Film turns the lenses inside the darkest parts of ourselves and our societies and if films like “4 Weeks” still have the power to shock me, then someone is doing their job. I love that a film can still make me think and feel.
Monday, July 28, 2008
You know you wanto to peek...
So Sci-Fi is already ready to cash in on the nerd-dom that Battlestar Galactica inspired. Their first offering to the already hungry masses – Caprica. A seemingly dark and gritty look at the origins of the Cynclon race from the perspective of its human creators, particularly two families who are directly responsible for these insidious machines. And wouldn’t you just know it? One of the families happens to be the Adamas…hmmm…it makes this nerd really stop for a second.
What does this mean to Battlestar’s current plotline?
Personally, I think that this trailer and this show demonstrate perfectly illustrate what I have thought for a long while (and I hate to shout it) but --- ADAMA IS A CYCLON.
Still doubting me?
Let’s look at the Caprica evidence.
1. Joe Adams (A.K.A. Joe Adama) has lost a dearly loved child and sanctifies the use of her memories to be implanted in a seemingly prefect mechanical copy.
-Adama has mentioned several times on BSG how much he and his father did not get along and this makes me wonder whether this was the real reason. His father’s negative criminal lawyer persona might inspire dislike, but not the total disregard of memory his son uses.
2. If Adama allowed this Dr. Greystone to use one child, what’s to stop him from using the man’s other child as an experimental control, possibly stealing memories or personality traits.
- Some bloggers on other sights (who I must credit) have hypothetically already broken down the personalities of all the known Cyclons and a major competent of each can be attributed back to Adama. It’s a farfetched theory, but one nonetheless.
3. Because it would make for the ultimate cosmic, karma joke.
- I mean come on! A father unwittingly begins the destruction of mankind out a perverted sense of love for his children. These surviving children, not knowing who or what they are, blend into society and become citizens. Nearly 40 years after their creation, they realize that they have not only been unwitting participants in the destructions of the human race, but they have been chasing and killing their own kind. Sounds like an angsty good time to me!
So far though, the trailer’s premise rather than its content is what has impressed me. It’s supposed to be dark and tragic and yet, it seems like the actors are trying too hard to put this across – they seem to be yelling in every scene “I made a terrible choice! Forgive me and humor me!” As far as style, it’s as far away from BSG as you can get and that might not be a bad thing…it shows a drastic different view of society and religion then what we see currently on BSG.
I’m just not totally convinced yet that this show can rise above its inherent soap-opera like clichéd potential and really tell a human story. I guess I’ll have to keep checking the trailer out and waiting.
Capricia may possible be shown as early as November or as late as December of 2008 based on whether SCI-FI decides to order more than the initial episodes it current has made, if not it will be a two part mini-series event.
Personally, I think they (SCI-FI) are giving BSG fans the carrot rather than the stick in terms of satisfaction. Keep us interested and speculating while you hoard the already finished final episodes and finale to yourselves until January.
It’s the law of supply and demand…and it works everywhere.
What does this mean to Battlestar’s current plotline?
Personally, I think that this trailer and this show demonstrate perfectly illustrate what I have thought for a long while (and I hate to shout it) but --- ADAMA IS A CYCLON.
Still doubting me?
Let’s look at the Caprica evidence.
1. Joe Adams (A.K.A. Joe Adama) has lost a dearly loved child and sanctifies the use of her memories to be implanted in a seemingly prefect mechanical copy.
-Adama has mentioned several times on BSG how much he and his father did not get along and this makes me wonder whether this was the real reason. His father’s negative criminal lawyer persona might inspire dislike, but not the total disregard of memory his son uses.
2. If Adama allowed this Dr. Greystone to use one child, what’s to stop him from using the man’s other child as an experimental control, possibly stealing memories or personality traits.
- Some bloggers on other sights (who I must credit) have hypothetically already broken down the personalities of all the known Cyclons and a major competent of each can be attributed back to Adama. It’s a farfetched theory, but one nonetheless.
3. Because it would make for the ultimate cosmic, karma joke.
- I mean come on! A father unwittingly begins the destruction of mankind out a perverted sense of love for his children. These surviving children, not knowing who or what they are, blend into society and become citizens. Nearly 40 years after their creation, they realize that they have not only been unwitting participants in the destructions of the human race, but they have been chasing and killing their own kind. Sounds like an angsty good time to me!
So far though, the trailer’s premise rather than its content is what has impressed me. It’s supposed to be dark and tragic and yet, it seems like the actors are trying too hard to put this across – they seem to be yelling in every scene “I made a terrible choice! Forgive me and humor me!” As far as style, it’s as far away from BSG as you can get and that might not be a bad thing…it shows a drastic different view of society and religion then what we see currently on BSG.
I’m just not totally convinced yet that this show can rise above its inherent soap-opera like clichéd potential and really tell a human story. I guess I’ll have to keep checking the trailer out and waiting.
Capricia may possible be shown as early as November or as late as December of 2008 based on whether SCI-FI decides to order more than the initial episodes it current has made, if not it will be a two part mini-series event.
Personally, I think they (SCI-FI) are giving BSG fans the carrot rather than the stick in terms of satisfaction. Keep us interested and speculating while you hoard the already finished final episodes and finale to yourselves until January.
It’s the law of supply and demand…and it works everywhere.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
They're back...
I waited for six years for this movie.
Scratch that.
I waited ten years for this movie.
As an X Files fan, I waited over a decade for a movie that would pick up and untangle the mess that was 1998’s Fight The Future – a cluster f**k of a movie if I have ever seen one.
Now it’s the summer of 2008 and I have a new X Files baby to scrutinize and cherish and yet…something seems so different.
Ten years ago, I was a wide eyed 14 year old X Files nerd who owned everything from action figures to badges. The creators of this pop culture gem could no wrong in my eyes. The cluttered and seemingly mythology pointless FTF seemed so damn cool to me that I begged to see it twice. It didn’t matter what happened in that movie – it could have been Mulder and Scully hanging wallpaper and holding hands and I would have stared at it like it was the best thing since Birth of a Nation.
It sucks to grow up.
So I walked into The X Files – I Want to Believe expecting to be disappointed because, let’s face it, that’s what Chris Carter does to his fans. He puts out everything you ever wanted on the character/story table and then just as you reach for it, he pulls it back and throws it into the garbage.
The man is the ultimate character tease.
Shockingly, I walked out of the Thursday midnight release neither disappointed nor shocked by what the movie was. You know why? Because when your expectations are so low it’s not too hard to meet them.
Was the case the “edge of your seat thriller” Carter & Company kept saying would take fans back to XF origins?
Of course not. I will give him props by saying that he brought back the gruesome factor the show left behind in latter seasons and the movie did have its share of creepy moments. A seasoned veteran of so many sci-fi and horror films, I was pleasantly surprised that I could still be creeped out by a few scenes in the film.
The X File itself is actually a mass of jumbled plot lines that never seem to pan out beyond a nicely wrapped up conclusion. Carter must think the fans will suck down whatever they can get because he totally phoned in this weak and convoluted plot that only serves to bring Mulder and Scully back into the paranormal fray.
Did I just say paranormal? *Looks around questioningly* wasn’t this movie supposed to be a paranormal thriller? No…forgive me for listening to you Mr. Carter. I guess this mess of plots you grabbed from Frankstein and Silence of the Lambs and tied together with a weak physic archetypal figure just oozed the paranormal. Sorry to have to break it you Chris…you need to try a little hard next time.
All this negativity, you might wonder what the hell I liked in this.
The answer is simple.
Mulder and Scully.
These two flawed characters never seem to annoy or grow tired to me and I think this film demonstrates that the chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is alive and kicking. When they are on screen, your eyes are held and they take the most bland and sappy dialogue and make it work. That folks is the sign of a good actor and actress who can make something work despite a poor script and sloppy direction.
Here are two characters that have grown and matured since we last saw them six years and they have an emotional and personal comfort level they never have before. They actually freaking listen to each other and care what the other thinks – the concept that Mulder not only cares what Scully thinks but asks her is shockingly refreshing to me. They live together simply as “two people” as Scully points out and yet, these two people can never just be the “I’m home honey” types. The darkness that both characters come to realize follows them is what you would expect to follow the paranormal’s unwitting archangels. The acknowledgement of this darkness and the inescapability of it for these two characters is something Carter finally embraces in them and does well in bring it out despite the deep script flaws that fight it.
As a “shipper” from the beginning who always wanted Mulder and Scully together, it was a little jarring to see the two of them kiss each other sweetly and spoon in bed without any major emotional crisis to spark it. It’s like getting the bike you always wanted for Christmas and you remember that you don’t know how to ride it – it’s scary but ultimately fun. I have read on countless message boards how disappointed fans are that there wasn’t more M&S action in the film (and I know the kind of action they are talking about.) My answer is a simple one – have you all learned nothing over the years? Carter gave us in three scenes then he did in nine seasons and you still want to complain? The truth is that fans can never be totally satisfied and I think even Duchovny and Anderson have realized this.
Sorry to all my fellow Philes, but you need to take what you can get.
So what else was there to celebrate?
1. No CGI – This is movie is totally old school and missing all the bells and whistles of modern action movies and thank god. It’s dark, gritty and bleak and fits perfectly in cannon X Files world.
2. Kick Ass Scully returns – After the two seasons of watching this strong and in control woman become a weak and sappy crybaby, I was glad to see Scully return. She has her own interests and career independent from Mulder and yet, embraces her femininity in a way we have never seen before. She patches up Mulder’s wounds and cleans up the mess he stumbles on and still manages to cry one prefect tear drop. What can I say? Welcome back Scully.
3. The return of Walter Skinner. When an entire theatre erupts like rowdy five year olds when the familiar bald profile appears, you realize just what an unsung hero you have. Totally underused here, I honestly wish he had more of a chance to impact the plot. It’s obvious that Carter wants to reinforce the father to children dynamic that is alive in the relationship between these three characters. He comes easily into the film, does his job alongside Scully, kicks ass, and then departs. Nice to see you Walter.
What I could have lived without:
1. Scully’s research methods – Google? Google? I mean seriously…I know you were just plugging it for them, but the woman could have cracked a book or journal when she is searching for stem cell information. And since we are on the subject – I think it’s amazing that a forensic pathologist is now a qualified brain surgeon, pediatrician, and all around medical authority. I know Scully can save the world but I guess Carter wants us to think that now she could even cure her own cancer if it returned.
2. Amanda Peet and Xhibit – The less said about these unimportant characters the better. They were on screen too long for me and I was so glad when they left.
3. Lack of plot continuity or resolution – I guess that’s self explanatory.
But in the end, I have to stop my whining and bitching because this movie did get it made and it is both a slap and a valentine to fans. This dark and gritty film allows the audience to explore aspects of Mulder and Scully as a team and individuals they have not before. See this film for the sheer joy reliving the glorious past of two characters that fascinated and infuriated fans across the globe.
And keep in mind this is Chris Carter we are dealing with and be thankful. We all know it could have been much worse and thank you Gillian and David for making the best out of it.
Back to nerd land.
Scratch that.
I waited ten years for this movie.
As an X Files fan, I waited over a decade for a movie that would pick up and untangle the mess that was 1998’s Fight The Future – a cluster f**k of a movie if I have ever seen one.
Now it’s the summer of 2008 and I have a new X Files baby to scrutinize and cherish and yet…something seems so different.
Ten years ago, I was a wide eyed 14 year old X Files nerd who owned everything from action figures to badges. The creators of this pop culture gem could no wrong in my eyes. The cluttered and seemingly mythology pointless FTF seemed so damn cool to me that I begged to see it twice. It didn’t matter what happened in that movie – it could have been Mulder and Scully hanging wallpaper and holding hands and I would have stared at it like it was the best thing since Birth of a Nation.
It sucks to grow up.
So I walked into The X Files – I Want to Believe expecting to be disappointed because, let’s face it, that’s what Chris Carter does to his fans. He puts out everything you ever wanted on the character/story table and then just as you reach for it, he pulls it back and throws it into the garbage.
The man is the ultimate character tease.
Shockingly, I walked out of the Thursday midnight release neither disappointed nor shocked by what the movie was. You know why? Because when your expectations are so low it’s not too hard to meet them.
Was the case the “edge of your seat thriller” Carter & Company kept saying would take fans back to XF origins?
Of course not. I will give him props by saying that he brought back the gruesome factor the show left behind in latter seasons and the movie did have its share of creepy moments. A seasoned veteran of so many sci-fi and horror films, I was pleasantly surprised that I could still be creeped out by a few scenes in the film.
The X File itself is actually a mass of jumbled plot lines that never seem to pan out beyond a nicely wrapped up conclusion. Carter must think the fans will suck down whatever they can get because he totally phoned in this weak and convoluted plot that only serves to bring Mulder and Scully back into the paranormal fray.
Did I just say paranormal? *Looks around questioningly* wasn’t this movie supposed to be a paranormal thriller? No…forgive me for listening to you Mr. Carter. I guess this mess of plots you grabbed from Frankstein and Silence of the Lambs and tied together with a weak physic archetypal figure just oozed the paranormal. Sorry to have to break it you Chris…you need to try a little hard next time.
All this negativity, you might wonder what the hell I liked in this.
The answer is simple.
Mulder and Scully.
These two flawed characters never seem to annoy or grow tired to me and I think this film demonstrates that the chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is alive and kicking. When they are on screen, your eyes are held and they take the most bland and sappy dialogue and make it work. That folks is the sign of a good actor and actress who can make something work despite a poor script and sloppy direction.
Here are two characters that have grown and matured since we last saw them six years and they have an emotional and personal comfort level they never have before. They actually freaking listen to each other and care what the other thinks – the concept that Mulder not only cares what Scully thinks but asks her is shockingly refreshing to me. They live together simply as “two people” as Scully points out and yet, these two people can never just be the “I’m home honey” types. The darkness that both characters come to realize follows them is what you would expect to follow the paranormal’s unwitting archangels. The acknowledgement of this darkness and the inescapability of it for these two characters is something Carter finally embraces in them and does well in bring it out despite the deep script flaws that fight it.
As a “shipper” from the beginning who always wanted Mulder and Scully together, it was a little jarring to see the two of them kiss each other sweetly and spoon in bed without any major emotional crisis to spark it. It’s like getting the bike you always wanted for Christmas and you remember that you don’t know how to ride it – it’s scary but ultimately fun. I have read on countless message boards how disappointed fans are that there wasn’t more M&S action in the film (and I know the kind of action they are talking about.) My answer is a simple one – have you all learned nothing over the years? Carter gave us in three scenes then he did in nine seasons and you still want to complain? The truth is that fans can never be totally satisfied and I think even Duchovny and Anderson have realized this.
Sorry to all my fellow Philes, but you need to take what you can get.
So what else was there to celebrate?
1. No CGI – This is movie is totally old school and missing all the bells and whistles of modern action movies and thank god. It’s dark, gritty and bleak and fits perfectly in cannon X Files world.
2. Kick Ass Scully returns – After the two seasons of watching this strong and in control woman become a weak and sappy crybaby, I was glad to see Scully return. She has her own interests and career independent from Mulder and yet, embraces her femininity in a way we have never seen before. She patches up Mulder’s wounds and cleans up the mess he stumbles on and still manages to cry one prefect tear drop. What can I say? Welcome back Scully.
3. The return of Walter Skinner. When an entire theatre erupts like rowdy five year olds when the familiar bald profile appears, you realize just what an unsung hero you have. Totally underused here, I honestly wish he had more of a chance to impact the plot. It’s obvious that Carter wants to reinforce the father to children dynamic that is alive in the relationship between these three characters. He comes easily into the film, does his job alongside Scully, kicks ass, and then departs. Nice to see you Walter.
What I could have lived without:
1. Scully’s research methods – Google? Google? I mean seriously…I know you were just plugging it for them, but the woman could have cracked a book or journal when she is searching for stem cell information. And since we are on the subject – I think it’s amazing that a forensic pathologist is now a qualified brain surgeon, pediatrician, and all around medical authority. I know Scully can save the world but I guess Carter wants us to think that now she could even cure her own cancer if it returned.
2. Amanda Peet and Xhibit – The less said about these unimportant characters the better. They were on screen too long for me and I was so glad when they left.
3. Lack of plot continuity or resolution – I guess that’s self explanatory.
But in the end, I have to stop my whining and bitching because this movie did get it made and it is both a slap and a valentine to fans. This dark and gritty film allows the audience to explore aspects of Mulder and Scully as a team and individuals they have not before. See this film for the sheer joy reliving the glorious past of two characters that fascinated and infuriated fans across the globe.
And keep in mind this is Chris Carter we are dealing with and be thankful. We all know it could have been much worse and thank you Gillian and David for making the best out of it.
Back to nerd land.
How prefect life is according to Lawrence Kasden
Lawrence Kasden’s reputation as a filmmaker is a pretty solid one from what I have read. He excels at ensemble drama/comedies that focus on particular groups of people dealing with the challenges of everyday life.
I saw The Big Chill (though I am hardly of the member of the generation that was affected by it) as well as Grand Canyon (once again the generation gap) many years ago and I have a vague recollection of a single idea when I think of both films – his story pieces just seem to fit together happily. After spending a Saturday afternoon watching another fairly popular Kasden film, Mumford, I have come to sad conclusion that it took three films to realize – I can’t stand it when a plot just ends happily. Call me an angst whore if you will, but I seriously think that Kasden’s films are more social fantasy rather than drama. The reality in the case of Mumford that is ignored, in my experience, is the fact that life very rarely just ends happily.
I can’t condemn his choice of casts. The talent of these actors keeps the film going despite the sometimes sugary sweet and flimsy script. In particular, I think Loren Dean did a pretty great job carrying the film as the title character as well as deferring to a stellar supporting cast when necessary. The mysterious doctor with an unknown past might be a cliché, but Dean brings a simple charm and warmth that make it obvious to me why people would confess their secrets to him. I wish every town had a shrink like Mumford simply because the character actually LISTENS and allows his patients to make their own conclusions. The fact that he is actually a recovering drug addict and has no formal psychiatric training is something Kasden wants you to keep in mind as the ultimate qualification to help others – he has faced demons and recovered from them.
It’s too bad that the writer didn’t infuse the rest of the characters with the same dimension.
Alfre Woodard is criminally underused in the film and ends up being the clichéd confident of the conflicted doctor and indulging in an unlikely flirtation with Jason Lee – yeah…still haven’t figured that one out yet. Hope Davis’s bland and quiet character that genuinely needs Mumford’s help and ultimately wins his heart bored me to tears. I don’t know whether Kasden made her as washed out and lifeless as a character so Mumford can revive her with his love and attention and if that’s the case…he failed. A couple of other heavy Hollywood hitters including Martin Short and Ted Danson move in and out of the scenes with no real purpose except to show us how dysfunctional people can be even in Prefectville America – not exactly a revolutionary plot move.
I will admit that I selfishly rented this from Netflix for one reason and one reason only – Mary McDonnell. A tremendous fan of the woman’s work, I have to say that she fell into the same trap as Alfre Woodard. Used sparingly throughout the film even though she is really Mumford’s only success story, she ultimately becomes a mass of stereotypes of modern womanhood. The neglected wife of a rich man, she begins to obsessively shop in an effort to exact the control over her life that her husband has robbed her when he made her a trophy wife. Middle aged with no identity beyond wife and mother, it’s nice that Kasden allows us to witness certain changes in her character as the film progresses-- we end with a sexually more adventurous woman on the verge of divorce. He goes with all the classic elements of change: drab colors to bright, plunging necklines and short skirts, red fingernails from plain white.
In the end the clichés did nothing but aggravate me. McDonnell’s Althea ends the film beginning an affair with an overweight pharmacist with a penchant for dime story fantasies – not exactly the match that sends sparks across the screen.
I suppose Kasden is trying to demonstrate with that particular relationship that people are predominantly attracted to people who offer us something we are missing in ourselves or allow us to become someone else. It’s a wonderful sentiment honestly, but one that he just doesn’t give enough weight too throughout the film – the ensemble here hurts rather than helps since no story gets the equal time it actually needs to develop.
Cinematically, Mumford is nothing to write home about. Simple angles, solid editing, a very basic script do nothing to really make the film stand out. The prefect little happy ending left me blank since the plot points were tied up too nicely and neatly. This guy lied to an entire town about what and who he has and they smile and congratulate him as he goes off to jail. Did Netflix mis-catorgoize this film as a comedy? I swear I was watching a fantasy.
I go back to The Big Chill and Grand Canyon as I take Mumford out of the DVD player and return it to its sleeve – those two films were fantasies too. Elaborate social fantasies about fate, circumstance, and the nature of the human condition and they just freaking worked. They worked because those two films were made at two distinct times for two distinct generations who were dealing with the same social and personal issues.
Maybe Mumford was just Kasden’s version of a modern fairytale with some drugs and sex mixed in?
Sorry Mr. Kasden. I’m all for happiness in the world, I’d welcome it in fact, but not in this case. You dumb down your audience by expecting them to just sit back and not question what is happening to the characters you are expecting us to become invested in. Life’s loose ends just don’t come together so simply and people don’t always do what they should and heal themselves.
I guess I’ll stick with the director’s other two films that actually make a social point instead of spoofing it.
Back to the Netflix drawing board.
I saw The Big Chill (though I am hardly of the member of the generation that was affected by it) as well as Grand Canyon (once again the generation gap) many years ago and I have a vague recollection of a single idea when I think of both films – his story pieces just seem to fit together happily. After spending a Saturday afternoon watching another fairly popular Kasden film, Mumford, I have come to sad conclusion that it took three films to realize – I can’t stand it when a plot just ends happily. Call me an angst whore if you will, but I seriously think that Kasden’s films are more social fantasy rather than drama. The reality in the case of Mumford that is ignored, in my experience, is the fact that life very rarely just ends happily.
I can’t condemn his choice of casts. The talent of these actors keeps the film going despite the sometimes sugary sweet and flimsy script. In particular, I think Loren Dean did a pretty great job carrying the film as the title character as well as deferring to a stellar supporting cast when necessary. The mysterious doctor with an unknown past might be a cliché, but Dean brings a simple charm and warmth that make it obvious to me why people would confess their secrets to him. I wish every town had a shrink like Mumford simply because the character actually LISTENS and allows his patients to make their own conclusions. The fact that he is actually a recovering drug addict and has no formal psychiatric training is something Kasden wants you to keep in mind as the ultimate qualification to help others – he has faced demons and recovered from them.
It’s too bad that the writer didn’t infuse the rest of the characters with the same dimension.
Alfre Woodard is criminally underused in the film and ends up being the clichéd confident of the conflicted doctor and indulging in an unlikely flirtation with Jason Lee – yeah…still haven’t figured that one out yet. Hope Davis’s bland and quiet character that genuinely needs Mumford’s help and ultimately wins his heart bored me to tears. I don’t know whether Kasden made her as washed out and lifeless as a character so Mumford can revive her with his love and attention and if that’s the case…he failed. A couple of other heavy Hollywood hitters including Martin Short and Ted Danson move in and out of the scenes with no real purpose except to show us how dysfunctional people can be even in Prefectville America – not exactly a revolutionary plot move.
I will admit that I selfishly rented this from Netflix for one reason and one reason only – Mary McDonnell. A tremendous fan of the woman’s work, I have to say that she fell into the same trap as Alfre Woodard. Used sparingly throughout the film even though she is really Mumford’s only success story, she ultimately becomes a mass of stereotypes of modern womanhood. The neglected wife of a rich man, she begins to obsessively shop in an effort to exact the control over her life that her husband has robbed her when he made her a trophy wife. Middle aged with no identity beyond wife and mother, it’s nice that Kasden allows us to witness certain changes in her character as the film progresses-- we end with a sexually more adventurous woman on the verge of divorce. He goes with all the classic elements of change: drab colors to bright, plunging necklines and short skirts, red fingernails from plain white.
In the end the clichés did nothing but aggravate me. McDonnell’s Althea ends the film beginning an affair with an overweight pharmacist with a penchant for dime story fantasies – not exactly the match that sends sparks across the screen.
I suppose Kasden is trying to demonstrate with that particular relationship that people are predominantly attracted to people who offer us something we are missing in ourselves or allow us to become someone else. It’s a wonderful sentiment honestly, but one that he just doesn’t give enough weight too throughout the film – the ensemble here hurts rather than helps since no story gets the equal time it actually needs to develop.
Cinematically, Mumford is nothing to write home about. Simple angles, solid editing, a very basic script do nothing to really make the film stand out. The prefect little happy ending left me blank since the plot points were tied up too nicely and neatly. This guy lied to an entire town about what and who he has and they smile and congratulate him as he goes off to jail. Did Netflix mis-catorgoize this film as a comedy? I swear I was watching a fantasy.
I go back to The Big Chill and Grand Canyon as I take Mumford out of the DVD player and return it to its sleeve – those two films were fantasies too. Elaborate social fantasies about fate, circumstance, and the nature of the human condition and they just freaking worked. They worked because those two films were made at two distinct times for two distinct generations who were dealing with the same social and personal issues.
Maybe Mumford was just Kasden’s version of a modern fairytale with some drugs and sex mixed in?
Sorry Mr. Kasden. I’m all for happiness in the world, I’d welcome it in fact, but not in this case. You dumb down your audience by expecting them to just sit back and not question what is happening to the characters you are expecting us to become invested in. Life’s loose ends just don’t come together so simply and people don’t always do what they should and heal themselves.
I guess I’ll stick with the director’s other two films that actually make a social point instead of spoofing it.
Back to the Netflix drawing board.
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