CliqueClack

Rest easy, Allison Waldman: the original Barbfile

I got the news this morning from fellow ex-TV Squadder Joel Keller that an also former writer for TVS, Allison Waldman, had passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. This was truly sad and surprising news to me, as not only was Allison one of the sweetest people I’ve had the pleasure of working with, but — at least to me — she kept to herself about her health issues. We were still in contact with one another, especially during the time we discussed her successfully-funded Kickstarter project, Barbara Memories, and still she gave no indication she wasn’t well.

Allison’s contributions on TV Squad were a bit outside of what long-time readers of the site were used to, but there was surely value in what she wrote. At one time Allison was contributing regularly to a new column about soaps, and there were plans to expand that into a TV Squad offshoot, perhaps called “TV Squad Daytime,” where she’d pretty much rule the roost. It’s a shame we never got to see that happen. Thankfully, though, you can still catch an archive of Allison’s TV Squad posts, as well as those she wrote for other outlets like SoapCentral.com. She also has some journal-like entries on YouTube — probably where you can see some her most recent work.

Besides Barbara Memories, Allison also wrote The Barbra Streisand Scrapbook. So, as you might have guessed, saying Allison was a huge Barbara Streisand fan is an understatement. Her nickname and Twitter handle, “Barbfile,” was a fitting one. I’m glad she got to see Barbara Memories completed and shared with other like-minded fans before she passed away.

SyFy Upfronts 2013 – Being Human cast audio interviews

I loved Being Human‘s first season. All throughout season one, I hoped the writers would resurrect Sally in human form so that she, Aidan and Josh could live together in a supernatural fun shack, with Sally seeking a more positive relationship to offset her murderous one, while Aidan encounters a lover he DOESN’T kill, and Josh stops wallowing in werewolf misery. Now, as we’re on the verge of season four, I STILL just want to watch them hang out, have fun and enjoy each other. Can’t Sally’s most strenuous problem surround what to wear on the first date and not her Reaper self or her zombie self?

But, this is Being Human. It’s more a tragi-comedy than a comedy drama. When do things go well or happily? Aidan’s initial idea surrounded Josh and Aidan accepting their supernatural lives without losing their humanity. However, accepting human life means eventually moving on. After college, do you live forever with your two wacky roommates? No. So, if Josh and Nora accept their humanity despite their werewolf lives, WHERE do the non-human members move onto? What does moving on mean for vampire Aidan and ghost Sally? Although the season four renewal excited the entire cast, they hinted this might be the final season. If season four is the last season, will Sally get her door? Will Aidan kill himself? Will Nora’s blood lust return? Or will we get the happy endings we all wanted for our favorite characters?

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Dallas ends with a bang … and we really know who killed J.R.

When Larry Hagman passed away while in the middle of production on Dallas‘ second season, fans were left to wonder how or even if the show could survive without its “Big Bad.” Hagman’s J.R. Ewing was certainly the villain we all loved to hate, but we knew that no matter who he was backstabbing and double crossing he was doing it to protect his family (not that that would condone that kind of behavior in real life, but his heart was in the right place). Hagman shot six episodes before he died, and you could tell that in the episode before J.R.’s shocking demise that the writers had to quickly tie up a whole lot of loose ends, most notably Anne’s arrest, trial and acquittal for shooting her ex-husband Harris Ryland, and the “poof, they’re gone” departure of Gary and Valene (back to Knots Landing to await their own reboot?).

When we learned J.R. had been shot — and for good this time — you could see the absolute anguish on the faces of the actors as they had to play those scenes of reacting to J.R.’s death, and having to react publicly for the cameras what they had already done privately with Hagman’s passing. It was painful to watch, but you knew you were seeing genuine emotion on the faces of those who had been working with him not only on this incarnation of the show but those who worked with him on the original series as well, particularly Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray.

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Trance is a decent thriller that tries to mess with your head

Some movies try to mess with your mind, using editing tricks and interesting filming techniques to confuse and beguile. Memento told a story about the lies we tell ourselves in form of memories, and how easy it is to fool oneself. Time travel films like Primer and Donnie Darko relish hideously complicated internal mythologies that practically require repeat viewings to grasp the plot and determine the answer to “what happened?” Most people have forgotten something important; it’s a common problem anyone can empathize with. But some things can never be understood and some people are not relatable.

Trance is the new movie from director Danny Boyle, and is essentially the classic story of a “heist that fails.” James McAvoy stars as Simon, an employee of an art auction house that gets involved with a bunch of criminals, led by Franck (Vincent Cassel), who are trying to steal an extremely valuable painting. But when Simon can’t remember where the artwork was hidden due to some head trauma, the criminals must turn to hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson) to help recover the suppressed memories. But things aren’t quite so simple. What is the memory that’s really hidden? What other past histories are yet to be unveiled? And who’s playing whom? Classic thriller plot threads, to be sure. And the addition of the hypnosis conceit really adds to the confusion (but don’t get caught in whether or not it makes sense — you’ll be there all day).

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42 is inspirational and cloying all at once

There are stories we tell about the past that show how things have changed, and look at the momentous paradigm shifts of society. But it’s complicated to think about things in a high-level systemic perspective, of a million cogs and moving parts, of thousands of people and processes causing changes. It’s far easier to tell those stories in the context of one individual we can follow along the way — and thus we have the heroic biopic. These stories can easily become schmaltzy and overly sentimental, overwhelmed by emotion and the desire to show the importance of historical changes.

42 tells the based-on-a-true-story of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in professional baseball in 1947 when he was hired to the Brooklyn Dodgers by Branch Rickey, club president and general manager of the Dodgers. Of course, it’s based on a true story, so we get dramatized versions of things we can’t possibly verify as being true, private conversations and personal experiences never shared publicly. Here the famed shortstop is played by Chadwick Boseman, who has the very difficult task of portraying a “hero of history.” He’s not given a lot to do most of the time, but sometimes he shows real emotion; Jackie has to deal with the media and both overt and subtle racism from outside forces and teammates alike. It’s helped by the relative unknown nature of Boseman, who hasn’t acted in that much, so we aren’t distracted by a known face. Harrison Ford played Rickey, in full on prosthetics and bushy eyebrows to look like the famed historical figure.

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Glee’s Shooting Star swings big but misses hard

If ever there was a show that was defined by ups and downs, it is Fox’s Glee. The show had a great start; its first thirteen episodes in particular set the show up as a quirky dark comedy that wasn’t like your average high school drama. Since then — and there are differences of opinion on when — the show has seen a critical downturn. Uneven characterizations and story telling have been the watchwords. While the fourth season has seen a bit of a turnaround, tonight’s episode, “Shooting Star,” proves that Glee will forever be a rollercoaster ride of quality.

The premise — experiencing a school shooting from the perspective of those on the inside — is sure to be controversial. While we’ve lived in a post-Columbine, post-Virginia Tech world for several years now, the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School means that telling a story like this is sure to touch a very sensitive nerve. Still, I applaud Glee’s producers for wanting to take this story on. Politics aside — where they will definitely stay in any post I write at CliqueClack — I believe that good fiction should make us think and feel, and telling a story like this should accomplish both. Sadly, the decision to do the story was one of the few things Glee got right.

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Game of Thrones Readalong: Walk of Punishment

Each week, CliqueClack provides folks that are trying to read George R. R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels along with the HBO series a little help. For as long as HBO provides us with screeners, we’ll help provide the point in the novels that you should have read through to keep ahead of each episode. As I mentioned last week, with all of the show’s (wonderful) deviations from the books, it can be a difficult task. But we’ve got you covered.

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Get in on the Veronica Mars movie project before it’s too late

It’s unlikely that there are many (any?) Veronica Mars fans out there who haven’t at least heard about the highly successful Kickstarter campaign for an official Veronica Mars movie, but King Rob says there just might be, so it’s become our duty as backers to help spread the word out just a little further.

The campaign — officially launched by Veronica Mars creator (aforementioned King) Rob Thomas — has quickly and easily reached its initial funding goal of $2 million (it’s at almost $5 million now), shattering some Kickstarter records, including fastest project to $1 million, fastest project to $2 million and biggest film project in Kickstarter history. Now they’ve got another goal in their crosshairs: more backers than any Kickstarter drive in history.

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Is Joffrey even more hatable on television?

Game of Thrones‘ second episode, “Dark Wings, Dark Words” is now in the books. Fans that were wondering what was going on with Arya, Bran, Osha, Jaime and Brienne now have all of the answers (Hey! No one said anything about actually understanding what was going on with them). One thing we do know for sure: Isaac Hempstead-Wright and Maise Williams sure did grow up in the several month break from filming.

First, a reminder of our Spoiler Warning. Beyond the Wall is a column that explores HBO’s Game of Thrones from the perspective of those who have already read Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels. So if you don’t know why Jojen and Meera Reed’s father is rather important, then Beyond the Wall isn’t for you. Continue reading 'Is Joffrey even more hatable on television?' »

Merlin comes to an end on home video

Two cable series reach their ends in this week’s home video releases as the final seasons of Merlin and Boss hit DVD and Blu-ray April 9. It’s a pretty slim week for new releases, but classic TV gets spiffed up with the season one Blu-ray release of The Dick Van Dyke Show (previously available as a complete series set). A couple of TV movies, a repriced HBO series and a kids’ show round out the new releases. Have a look at our shopper’s guide to see all of the titles available this week, and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

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