Monday, October 31, 2005
ON TURNING 42
Had another birthday this weekend (the 29th). Turned 42. This could have been something depressing, but I think I'm past that now. You're just happy to be around another year. And there's so much left to do.
This year is also a new beginning of sorts. Tomorrow, on Halloween, I start a new job, which I'm pretty excited about.
I also have a new book coming out this week. I received my contributor's copies of the chapbook RIGHT HOUSE ON THE LEFT on Friday. I sat down that night and read it cover to cover. Three stories - by Steve Vernon, Mark McLaughlin, and me. I have to admit, the book works very well as a whole, and I was actually pretty happy with how my story turned out. Even though I've read it a few times since I wrote it, I tried to read it here fresh. And it works. All in all, a very cool project to be a part of. Nick Cato over at Novello Publishers did a fine job putting this together, and he should be proud of it. Definitely check this one out, and not just because I'm in it. Haha. Details on how to order it are on my website, as always, www.llsoares.com
Oh, and the weather's been nutty lately. It actually snowed on my birthday here. For awhile there, it looked almost like it was going to be a blizzard. Weird. I can't remember the last time I had snow on my birthday. And now I hear it will be in the 60's on Halloween.
That's all for me for now. Until next time...
Monday, October 24, 2005
SOME PERSONAL UPDATES
Aside from movies and other fun stuff, I've also got some good news. I begin a new job on Monday (Halloween) and it looks like a real step in the right direction. I've taken a week off between the end of my old job and the start of my new one - and hopefully I'll get some writing done to show for it. But I also think Halloween is a good omen, and I'm very psyched about this new chapter in my life.
Also, to reinforce the "Halloween-good-omen" concept - the chapbook I'm in from Novello Publishers - namely RIGHT HOUSE ON THE LEFT - is also due out on the illustrious trick-or-treat holiday. This is one of the most visible things I've been in (it's actually going to get reviewed in a few places) and I'm really happy about it. I'm sharing the book with two talented guys, Steve Vernon and Mark McLaughlin, and let's just say next week is going to be a really good one for me.
If you'd like to order the chapbook from Shocklines.com, it's available here.
MULTI-WEEK ROUND-UP: MOVIES, MUSIC AND TV
Oh well, time to move forward. We've got lots to cover this time around. I keep meaning to write more regularly, and I'm about two weeks behind now. So let's start with some recent films I've seen..
SERENITY
I wasn’t a big fan of the original show this is based on, Joss Whedon’s FIREFLY. It just seemed like a western set in space (wasn't that the original pitch for STAR TREK back in the day?), and I didn’t really see much original about it. The cast was good, but the storyline didn’t grab me, and compared to Whedon’s previous shows, BUFFY and ANGEL, FIREFLY seemed second-rate to me. Then again, I'm much more of a horror guy than a sci-fi fan anyway.
Friends kept telling me to give FIREFLY a second chance. Supposedly when FOX first aired it, the episodes were all out of order, and the storyline didn't gel as a result. The new DVD box set of the entire FIREFLY series was supposed to set things straight, showing the episodes in order and unlocking the mystery as to why this show was supposed to be so damned good. A rabid cult has since sprung up for the show since it left FOX and showed up on DVD and on the Sci-Fi Channel in reruns. And yeah, I plan to give the show another chance. But that's mostly because of the movie...
Y'see, SERENITY is a pretty cool flick. Not only is it Joss Whedon's debut as a feature film director (he does a fine job), but it's finally justifies the world he created in FIREFLY and answers the question: How can a show that was canceled on TV find new life as a major motion picture?
The basic storyline takes place in a future where a civil war in the universe has been squashed by the Alliance, and there are rogue ships here and there, one of which is Serenity, captained by Mal (Nathan Fillion) who is kind of an intergalactic bounty hunter and treasure seeker. Somehow Mal and his crew give refuge to Simon (Sean Maher), who becomes the ship's doctor by default, and his sister River - a genetically enhanced fighting machine who is being pursued by the Alliance. Along for the ride are Mal's crew, the hotheaded Jayne (Adam Baldwin), who's always good for some smartass one-liners, kick-ass chick Zoe (the excellent Gina Torres) and her husband Wash (Alan Tudyk), the ship's captain. There's also mechanic Kaylee (Summer Glau), who's sweet on Simon, and Inara (Morena Baccarin), a "courtesan" who used to be part of the crew but has since returned to her home planet. She gets dragged back into the storyline basically because there's some strong sexual tension between her and Mal. It was really refreshing to see the original cast all on board for the big movie version - no name actors have come in to steal someone's role - and when the movie starts it feels like old times.
This time around the Alliance has sent a smooth-talking and very cold-blooded Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to find an apprehend River. There's also another plotline concerning the cannibalistic Reavers - an abandoned and animalistic race somehow tied into the civil war with the Alliance. We find out a lot about the Reaver's origins.
Beyond these basic plots, there's no reason to go into much further detail. Better to just experience it for yourself, and there's a good chance that, like me, you'll be won over by the experience. SERERNITY is a lot of fun, the characters grow on you, and it has one thing the STAR WARS movies and their ilk haven't had in a long time - a sense of humor. Looks like SERENITY will probably have some sequels coming on the horizon, and it also looks like Joss Whedon has a future as a movie director..
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Director David Cronenberg is back with a vengeance in his new flick, which is probably also his most mainstream movie to date (along with his "big Hollywood blockbuster" back in the 80's, his remake of THE FLY). Croneberg is one of my favorite directors, and he rarely disappoints. He also has a tendency to be all over the map - it's rare when any two of his movies are anything alike - and A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is no exception. After his last movie, the very weird trip into an insane man's brain - SPYDER - the new movie is downright accessible in comparison.
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is the story of Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen - last seen as Aragon in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy). Tom has the life of an American everyman - he has a wife and kids, lives in a small town (where he owns a diner) and pretty much keeps to himself. One day, a couple of thugs enter his diner, threatening to shoot up the place, and he reacts quickly and with an easy violence that seems that seems to come natural to him. The bad guys are killed and Tom's a hero in the nightly news. Unfortunately, the media attention draws the attention of more thugs - this time led by gangster Carl Fogerty (Ed Harris) who is sure that Tom used to have another life before this one, one where his name was Jimmy. Suddenly, Tom's quiet, peaceful life is turned upside down, as we wonder just who this man is, and what he's done in his past.
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is one of the best films I've seen this year, and I really recommend it. Not only are Mortensen and Harris great in their roles, but there's a great supporting cast including Maria Bello as Tom's wife Edie (they have some pretty high-energy sex scenes putting lie to the old saw that there's no sex after marriage) and Ashton Holmes as Tom's son Jack, who is also profoundly affected by the events that surrounds his father. William Hurt also turns in a scenery-chewing performance as Tom's long-lost brother Richie.
Even though this movie is one of Cronenberg's most mainstream efforts, there's still plenty of edge here, and he doesn't shy away from violence when it makes his points. As the story unfolds, it grows more fascinating, and this is definitely a movie worth checking out.
THE FOG
The less said about this remake of John Carpenter's 1980 original, the better. Mainly because I'm reviewing it this week with Michael Arruda in the CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT column we write for HELLNOTES. For here, let's just say that I always thought Carpenter's original was one of his weaker efforts, and if there was a chance for someone to actually improve on a movie in the remake, this was it. (See this week's HELLNOTES to see whether or not it was missed opportunity).
DOMINO
As you might have heard by now, this is the story of Domino Harvey, the real life model-turned-bounty hunter who was actor Lawrence Harvey's daughter (his most famous role was probably in the 1962 version of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE). The real Domino died a few months ago of what first appeared to be a suicide attempt, but, since then, there's been speculation she was murdered. The movie DOMINO does not address the end of Domino Harvey's life. But then again, it doesn't really have to.
Kiera Knightley plays Domino as a hot chick with a violent streak, and her bounty hunter co-horts Chock (Edgar Ramirez) and boss Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke in another great performance since his big comeback as Marv in SIN CITY) are just as interesting. How she hooks up with them is a funny story, and it leads to everything from them getting their own reality show to some bounty work gone wrong, involving a shitload of cash and lots of bodies.
I don't know how much of the movie DOMINO is real. Supposedly, director Tony Scott (who's last film was MAN ON FIRE with Denzel Washington) took a lot of liberties with her life story - so much so that a lot of people were unhappy with the result. This, coupled with Scott's affinity for camera tricks and flashy flashbacks, led to a lot of critics slamming the movie when it came out. But I could tell from the trailers that there was a chance I was gonna love this movie, and I did. Knightley is perfect as Domino, and Rourke turns in another hard-as-nails performance. Everyone involved does a good job, even two assholes from BEVERLY HILLS 90210 (Ian Zering and Brian Austin Greene) as themselves, two lame-ass celebrities tapped to host the reality show made from Domino's life (their roles are a little reminiscent of Robert Downey's TV journalist in NATURAL BORN KILLERS). There's even a typically off-kilter performance by the great Christopher Walken as the show's producer, who's a little nuts himself.
The fact is, I had a great time and I think this movie got a bad rap. Fuck the mainstream critics. If this sounds like your kind of flick, check it out while you still can.
MUSIC
Back on October 11th I got to see THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS in concert, and I've got to say, it was a really good time. I can easily say they're new album TWIN CINEMA is my favorite CD of the year so far, and they did a lot of songs from it in concert, along with some stuff off their earlier albums. If you haven't checked this band out yet, you really should. The opening act was DESTROYER, the band fronted by Dan Bejar (who is also a member of the New Pornographers - he always has a few songs on each of their albums). I wasn't really familiar with DESTROYER before, but they were really good in concert, too, and I want to check out more of their stuff.
Another case of the critics getting it wrong - Rolling Stone (among other mags) has given the new Dandy Warhols' album, ODDITORIUM OR THE WARLORDS OF MARS an especially bad review (I think RS gave it one star). I haven't seen one good review of the album, and I gotta say, they're wrong. It's on my MP3 player, and I listen to it a lot. Not only does it have a catchy single in "Smoke It," but it also has one helluva great song in "Love Is the New Feel Awful." The whole album's good, and I'm more than looking forward to seeing the Dandy's in concert in late November.
TELEVISION
On the television front, I've already given up on BONES, SUPERNATURAL and the GHOST WHISPERER, all shows I can easily live without. The three big new science fiction shows - SURFACE, THRESHOLD and INVASION are still holding steady, and from week to week, although they alternate as to which one I like best. SURFACE might be my favorite for some reason - although I'm more than a little sick of the cutesy ET-like baby sea-monster. Otherwise, I think the show's pretty good. I don't know what kind of ratings it's getting, but I have a suspicion it might not be around for the long haul. THRESHOLD varies from week to week. Sometimes it's really good, sometimes it's kind of lame. But it's good often enough to keep me watching (so far). As for INVASION - it seems to be the slickest of the three and might just have the most potential, but man, does it move at a snail's pace! It gives us what amount the crumbs each week and expects us to keep following it. But I'm kind of on the fence right now. If it doesn't get to the point soon, I might drop it before the end of the season.
As for NIGHT STALKER - it's actually gotten a little better, despite a bad start. It is nothing like the original show - and really should not even use the same name - but it's not the worst new show of the season afterall. Hell, with some decent writing, it might even be okay. I'm watching it because I'm curious to see how it improves - and I guess because I'm curious to see how they fuck up the original concept along the way...
That's it for the media round-up this week. Hopefully we'll have these little chats more often in the future. Until next time...
Infernally Yours,
LLS
Saturday, October 08, 2005
NEW GENRE SHOWS - WEEK 3
Well, I finally got to see the absolute worst new genre series of the new fall season....
NIGHT STALKER (THURSDAYS AT 9PM ON ABC)
Okay, so the original Kolchak: The Night Stalker series (which only lasted one season, from 1974 to 1975) is probably my favorite show of all time. So I've got issues right off the bat with someone fucking around with it. But I tried to keep an open mind and give this show a chance.
And it still stinks to high heaven.
Let's review what made the original show so great, shall we? First off, it had a lead actor who had quirky charisma and who could easily carry off the storylines in a believable manner. Carl Kolchak, as portrayed by Darren McGavin, was a dishevled schlub of a reporter who always seemed to be wearing the same clothes, who got no respect from his co-workers, who was constantly getting on the wrong side of law enforcement. Everyone seemed to hate this guy. Yet he didn't give a shit. Somehow, he instantly latched on to stories that had supernatural origins. And he was the only one who did the research and figured out how to stop the baddies. And he did it alone.
When the original show aired, I was a kid, and I was drawn to it for the monsters. It didn't hurt that there were two terrific TV movies before the series - THE NIGHT STALKER (1972) and THE NIGHT STRANGLER (1973), both with teleplays written by the great Richard Matheson. The first movie, THE NIGHT STALKER, was the highest rated TV movie ever for years and was a solid horror story about a vampire preying on women in Las Vegas. THE NIGHT STRANGLER, the weaker of the two, was still a lot of fun, and another great showcase for Carl Kolchak. This time dealing with an immortal killer who needs to take a potion made of human blood every hundred years to stay alive. The climax takes place in a fascinating subterranean city beneath Seattle that really exists.
A series was inevitable considering the popularity of the TV movies and their scruffy protagonist.
Like I said, the monsters are what drew me to it, I was a kid and in love with horror from an early age. But that's not really why I kept watching. I kept watching for McGavin's portrayal of Kolchak. The guy was maybe the most "gruff but lovable" character ever to have his own television show. Just the scenes in the newspaper office alone were priceless - Kolchak's antagonistic relationship with his boss, Vincenzo (Simon Oakland) who was always yelling and reaching for the alka seltzer. The prissy Updike, who Carl always called Uptight. And Miss Emily, the kindly old woman who wrote the advice column (which Carl had to take over in her absence at least once). This wasn't just an office, it was a family, and their interactions were priceless.
Then there were the plots and the monsters. The show never had a big budget and the monsters more often than not looked fake. But McGavin and Company worked around this easily, and while some episodes are more comedies than horrific, there are about a handful that still have some scares, even after all this time ("The Zombie" comes to mind, with Kolchak having to pour salt into a zombie's mouth and sew up his lips before he rises from his resting place).
Now let's look at the new show.
First off, there's absolutely no sense of humor. What made the original show so great was its balance of humor and horror. But the new show just jettisons that completely, for a serious, X-FILES tone. (It should be noted that one the masterminds (and Executive Producer) behind this new NIGHT STALKER, Frank Spotnitz, was also and Executive Producer for THE X-FILES).
Then there's the new Kolchak. Stuart Townsend plays the role like a mannequin more suited for the cover of GQ than a seasoned reporter. He's devoid of personality, and, frankly, pretty fucking boring.
The rest of the office staff isn't any better. The new Vincenzo is just as serious and bland. It's like these characters just happen to share the same names as the previous bunch. They share nothing else in common. And then there's the rest of the news team. There's Kolchak's new boss (Gabrielle Union) and a staff photographer. Somehow, these two end up being Kolchak's sidekicks, which doesn't work at all, because the guy's supposed to be a friggin loner!
One exchange betwee Union and Townsend was especially wince-inducing. She says "I've been doing crime reporting for four years now, how about you?" Kolchak smiles and says, "Five." Meanwhile the real Carl Kolchak was a reporter for probably 30 years when he first got involved in the supernatural, and that made him a seasoned newspaperman with real instincts and experience. In contrast, these two new reporters are green behind the gills.
There's also a mission now. This new Kolchak is hunting down supernatural baddies because one of them (a kind of werewolf) killed his wife back in Las Vegas (the same city where the original Kolchak fought his first supernatural baddie, the vampire Janos Skorzeny, played by Barry Atwater, back in 1972). Townsend's Kolchak was the prime suspect in his wife's murder but was freed due to insufficient evidence. His first case as a reporter in Chicago in the new series' pilot involves a similar case involving werewolf-like creatures. Which is why he takes this case so personally.
This mission and backstory are meant to give the new Kolchak some emotional weight and a reason why he is pursuing supernatural creatures. He's out for revenge, and to clear his name. (Sounds an awful lot like the other new WB show SUPERNATURAL). This is all well and good, but it really does not add anything to the show, and certainly doesn't make up for its shortcomings.
I'd also heard that Darren McGavin was going to make a cameo on the new series. I assumed it would be the real McGavin of today - the old man we saw a few years back on an episode of the X-FILES (which everyone involved used to claim was "inspired" by the original Night Stalker). He does make a cameo, but it's the McGavin of the 1970's, the original Kolchak in his white suit, superimposed onto the film in a newsroom scene. It's hokey, and fake looking, and just reinforces how inferior the new show is.
I tried to find one good thing to say about the new Night Stalker, despite the fact that it's bland, lifeless, and a feeble joke in comparison to the original.
But there is one good thing I can say about it, because ABC expects this to be a hit, and Universal Studios wants to cash in on that, Universal just released the original series in a DVD box set. The TV movies have been on DVD for awhile, but the original series has never been on DVD. So this is a cause for celebration. Better to buy the original and wallow in what made it such the wonderful, fun classic it was.
But avoid the new one at all costs.
