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A few of my favorite things – 2013 Style

Ivey West — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 14:00:26 +0000

2013 has just about come to a close. Instead of the “Best Of” approach, I take my annual look at some of my favorite things in Television, Film and Pop Culture this year.

Unlike many of my Clacking Contemporaries, I love internet lists; especially end-of-year-compilations. I love the arguments that develop over the placement of one particular show/flick/book/video game over the other. What I don’t always appreciate is the idea of “best.” Take a look at some of the “Best of 2013 Films” lists floating around the Internet this week: Are there a couple of flicks you have never heard of, let alone had the opportunity to see? Yeah, that’s not how I see things. I think we can celebrate the “best.”

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I don’t like Mad Men and I haven’t yet tackled Sons of Anarchy or (GASP!) Breaking Bad. I didn’t see every movie I wanted to (The Butler, About Time and Fruitvale Station probably top that list). Again, this is about what I really liked this year, not about what I — or the Internet as a greater whole — thinks “best.” I think that approach is much more true and much more fun.

Scandal

I have my problems with Shonda Rhimes’ latest show, but that doesn’t keep me from love everything else about the show. Put simply, Scandal is batshit crazy, and there’s not a single positive character on the entire show. As much as Olivia and her crew talk about their white hats, you can’t add enough white to grey to get the black out; Huck’s actions last week are proof positive of that. But Scandal has also been home to some of the year’s best performances; Bellamy Young and Jeff Perry both have had a couple of scenes that were simply phenomenal.

The Veronica Mars Kickstarter

The announcement that Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell would be taking their plans for a Veronica Mars flick to Kickstarter nearly blew the doors off of my Twitter feed. The project quickly met its goal of $2 million within 11 hours, and more than doubled that by the time the funding period was over. The viral campaign leading up to filming was phenomenal; many of the actors filmed quick videos for YouTube announcing their participation, a process that helped build the hype for the show’s cult fandom.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Veronica Mars’ presence at Comic-Con this year. While I wasn’t able to make the Hall H panel, fellow Clacker Keith McDuffee and I did back the Kickstarter project high enough to get a reserved seat at the fan event held later that evening. The event itself was far from perfect, but it was a pretty damn cool experience nonetheless.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTZ-fXU4iE

Netflix’s House of Cards and Orange is the New Black

Was there an entertainment company that had a better year than Netflix? Bringing back Arrested Development was a big coup, but it was the other two shows that really tripped my trigger. House of Cards is the kind of show that was conceived personally for my enjoyment. I love a good political yarn, and Kevin Spacey absolutely chews every second he is on the screen. Orange is the New Black was different, “coming out of nowhere” to really surprise some people (Not this particular blogger, who wrote about lead Taylor Schillling: “She has the look, and the talent, to be a breakout star” four years ago).

Gravity

Gravity was one of those flicks that had been in pre-production for a long time. I had followed the project for years as director Alfonso Cuarón waited for technology to catch up to the script, as well as go through the myriad casting changes the project experienced. The final product was phenomenal. Sandra Bullock and the film’s technical mastery easily covered for a rather pedestrian script. There are very few movie’s that I believe are “must see” in 3D – and in this case IMAX as well – but Gravity was one of them. I’m a little worried that the film won’t hold up on people’s TVs at home, but the theatre experience was unforgettable.

Arrow

Arrow has received a great deal of buzz this year as being greatly improved from its inaugural season last year and while I won’t deny it has been pretty damn great, I thought that season one was pretty good, too. The promotions of Colton Haynes, Manu Bennett and (particularly) Emily Bett Rickards have filled out the show nicely. The CW is now using the show to launch a show centered on the Barry Allen version of the Flash, and there are continued rumors (that are often denied and then pop up again) that both shows might be linked to the DC Cinematic Universe.

Photo Credit: ABC

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Glee delivers an emotional tribute to Cory Monteith

Ivey West — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 04:53:27 +0000

‘Glee’ stealthily breaks the fourth wall to pay tribute to Cory Monteith, an unusual choice that paid beautiful dividends.

“Everyone wants to talk about how he died, too. But who cares? One moment in his whole life…” When Glee’s producers announced that they were preparing this week’s tribute episode, a great many of us had our doubts. Glee has had an uneven track record over the years, and while they’ve done their “very special episodes” quite well, producing an hour of television that wouldn’t be perceived as callous would be difficult. How can you ask these actors to portray their grief for America to see?

I didn’t doubt for a second that the decision to move forward with “The Quarterback” was one made by the entire cast and crew.
I didn’t doubt for a second that the decision to move forward with “The Quarterback” was one made by the entire cast and crew – especially Lea Michelle. As a fan of the show, I wouldn’t have asked Glee to produce this episode, however I’m thankful that they did. While I’ve never interviewed Cory, I did meet several members of the cast at SDCC several years back. You could tell then that a sense of family had very quickly developed amongst the cast and crew (admittedly not every family member will like each other all the time). In that sense, “The Quarterback” provided an opportunity for most of that family to come together and honor their friend.

I think it is pretty obvious that it worked. While it must have been difficult for these actors to say lines about “Finn” that obviously carried the emotional weight of Cory, what they did was kind of beautiful. Kurt’s voiceover that followed the wonderful rendition of “Seasons of Love” set the ground rules: yes, the lines fit the context of the story, but only because they had to. Maybe on a different show, it wouldn’t have worked, but it did here. “The Quarterback” was filled with these moments: Burt talking about hugging more, Puck breaking down, Sue talking about the wasted potential … these were people talking about losing their friend.

And then, there was the music. From the opener, to Santana’s “If I Die Young” to Rachel’s “Make You Feel My Love” (which, boys and girls, is a Bob Dylan song that Adele covered after Garth Brooks made it a hit), each song choice was pitch perfect. I have no clue how they got through the performances or the recordings – especially Lea Michelle – but they did so. Proceeds of the iTunes downloads went to Project Limelight, a charity Cory Monteith supported that helped promote the arts with inner city youth in Montreal.

It was an episode about dealing with grief, and it didn’t miss anything for not addressing things like how the character died.
The question of how to handle the death of an actor on a television show is never easy. In recent years, we’ve seen shows like The West Wing and 8 Simple Rules do it well. Glee’s approach was quite different, but I think it fit the personality of the show quite well. It likely won’t be popular with everyone – the Washington Post’s Hank Stuever has already chimed in – but it works for this show. Stuever talks about the show ignoring its history of “cold honesty,” but I think that’s missing the point. “The Quarterback” isn’t necessarily the final word on Finn Hudson. Very few – if any – of the ongoing storylines were addressed. It was an episode about dealing with grief, and it didn’t miss anything for not addressing things like how the character died.

The show’s producers have already said that Finn’s death will reverberate throughout the rest of the season. We may yet find out what caused it, but I hope that we don’t … unless it fits into the story, it doesn’t really matter that much. As Beiste and Puck mentioned in their conversation, one’s life is about the line in-between the numbers. Was “The Quarterback” any less impactful for leaving that detail out? Is it particularly relevant to the story going on? I doubt that anyone who watched this episode of Glee didn’t know Cory’s story. This episode was for the actors, and for the fans that have stuck with this show through these (very) rough last several years. I don’t think any of them had a problem with it in the least. If there was ever an hour of television where it was OK to play fan service, this was it.

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Photo Credit: Fox

Glee’s Shooting Star swings big but misses hard

Ivey West — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 02:00:05 +0000

‘Glee’ attempts to tell a story about a very sensitive subject. But if they’re going to tell this kind of a story, there needs to be a pay-off – positive or negative. “Shooting Star” doesn’t earn that.

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.

“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.

The shooting comes out of nowhere — which I guess is truer to reality, but doesn’t work particularly well narratively. Sure, the theme of “Last Chances” was introduced early in the episode, but what happened early didn’t really jive with the story once the gunshots rang out. The moments of terror, the sense of fear and dread that played out in the choir room were some of the few true parts of the episode. In particular, Sam’s desire to leave the room to find Brittany felt totally in character. I also really appreciated some of the smaller moments, things like Kitty’s confession to Marley and Artie’s attempts to film messages for everyone.

Very little that happened in the episode’s final act rang through with the sense of heft that it should have.

But once safety had been restored, what little sense the episode had been making stopped. The story of a school shooting — as innocent as this particular event may have been — is big and emotional. Very little that happened in the episode’s final act rang through with the sense of heft that it should have.

One of the few things I did like — at least in the abstract — was Sue Sylvester taking the blame for Becky’s gun. Sue’s relationship with Becky has been a joy to watch. The sacrifice she was willing to make on her student’s behalf was big; Sue was walking away from her entire career. Unfortunately it’s just another peak in the rollercoaster that has been her character arc. When Glee needs Sue to be a villain, she is someone that you could never imagine capable of the selflessness she exhibited tonight. But as soon as we think Sue is beginning to truly change, she’s soon back to her old antics.

“Shooting Star” tries to follow in a legacy of truly good Glee episodes dealing with amazingly mature issues that high school students deal with. Whereas Karofsky’s suicide or Kurt and Santana’s troubles with acceptance delivered powerful episodes, tonight’s installment fell short. Considering the material, and the emotions the story was trying to convey, I think we deserved better.

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Photo Credit: Adam Rose/FOX