CliqueClack » much ado about nothing

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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Much Ado About Nothing is a lovely, funny, very Whedonesque Shakespeare movie

Jeremy Fogelman — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 05:30:44 +0000

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is in turns delightful, heart-wrenching, and soul fulfilling … and the writing’s not bad either.

We don’t see a lot of Shakespeare these days, except in the derivative storytelling sense, of course. Yes, there was the terrible 2011 movie Anonymous that claimed ol’ Willie didn’t write a bit of it, and the barely seen 2012’s Coriolanus and this year’s Warm Bodies, which was very loosely based on Romeo and Juliet. But every year there’s usually at least one, even if they aren’t widely seen. Impressive stuff for an author that hasn’t written anything new in 400 years. I suppose those themes and characters are still resonating with people even today, despite the language barrier we all faced reading those book in high school. By my troth, there’s an awful lot of antiquated colloquialisms in those plays. But the words are one thing; not everyone can pull off a Shakespearean monologue believably. On the other hand, some people totally can.

Much Ado About Nothing is an adaptation of the play by the same name from Shakespeare, this time by not terrible director Joss Whedon. I hadn’t read the play or seen the Kenneth Branagh version (I think that guy has adapted more Shakespeare plays than were actually written), so my perspective is one familiar with the parlance of the day, but not the precise material. So at first I was lost, confused by who was whom and what was going on. But that soon changed. It’s all vaguely in a modern day, although considering that no words are changed, it does seem a bit anachronistic, probably by design. And boy, this movie is filled with Joss Whedon regulars and favorites. We begin in Messina with Beatrice (Amy Acker from Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse, and Angel), niece to Leonato, the governor of Messina (Clark Gregg from The Avengers), which I guess is where they’re supposed to be, alongside cousin Hero (newcomer Jillian Morgese who just had an uncredited role in The Avengers that led to this casting). Hero is a girl, by the way, which is obvious when you watch the movie but perhaps not from the name. All are in a kerfuffle because of the impending arrival of Don Pedro (Reed Diamond from Dollhouse), prince of Aragon, with his entourage a-coming. Among these are two important people, Benedick (Alexis Denisof from — deep breath – Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, and a hidden role in The Avengers), who has a longstanding war of words with Beatrice, and Claudio (Fran Kranz from Dollhouse and The Cabin in the Woods), who immediately falls in love with Hero. Yes, a bit cliched, but that’s par for the course for these sorts of stories.

Alexis Denisof has amazing chemistry with Amy Acker, who is just fantastic, subtle, hilarious, and emotional at precisely the right moments.

Of course, a series of comic misunderstandings and tragedies follow quickly, as might be expected. But come on, with bumbling constable Dogberry (Nathan Fillion from Buffy, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) on the case, how won’t they discover the evil machinations of Don Pedro’s evil brother Don John (Sean Maher from Firefly)? It’s one of Shakepeare’s comedies, which usually means nobody dies and everyone gets married (as opposed to tragedies, where everybody dies). Whether or not that happens this time I won’t spoil, although the story has actually been spoiled for about 400 years. Obviously the writing is good here, so the question becomes simple: How well was it pulled off? The movie does look good, shot in black and white and claustrophobically filmed inside an LA house (I wonder whose house it was? Spoiler: It was Joss Whedon’s). The acting is certainly excellent across the board, but some people manage it a bit better than others. Reed Diamond is a bit stiff at times and Alexis Denisof’s line readings are occasionally a tad stilted. But he has amazing chemistry with Amy Acker, who is just fantastic, subtle, hilarious, and emotional at precisely the right moments. For the other couple, both are superb; Jillian Morgese makes wonders of the simplistic maiden and Fran Kranz is affecting and heart-pulling as the noble youth who believes in true love. Of course, I can’t forget Nathan Fillion, who is quite amusing indeed.

Gee, what a surprise. Above all, these people are having boatloads of fun here, and there’s no question how much Whedon adores the material and the cast in equal measures. Everyone gets their moment to shine, and although it takes a bit of time to get into, and the story itself seems a bit dated at times (can’t be helped), there’s no question that this is just a fun, classy movie that’ll make you feel great afterwards. By my troth, I am off!

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Photo Credit: Roadside Attractions