Did you catch Quentin Tarantino on The Rachel Maddow Show last night? He was his usual vainglorious --excuse me vainglourious-- self. But it is interesting to see how successfully they have repositioned the movie for Oscar season. This was the plan way back of course, to move away from the outrageous comedy persona they were cultivating in the summer. But sometimes I'm surprised that Tarantino, who can never shut up, is so good at staying on message. He gives the movie all sorts of extra credit points here for political relevance and comparing its modern take on past history to Bonnie & Clyde (!)
I actually watch violent movies with the "chick-vision" they laugh about. I'm not ashamed. I'm just not a big lover of gruesome violence. I don't have the bloodlust that the box office receipts for just about everything imply that I should have. I love that Maddow admits that she does this, too. "This is one chick like thing about me."
Now I want to see one of these "glockenspiel musicals" that QT references when he's talking about the German film industry at the time.
MSNBC's superstar, the smart funny and enlightening Rachel Maddow, is obsessed with all things political... so maybe it's no surprise that she loves The Manchurian Candidate(1962). Politics is not just Maddow's job but her passion. You can see that in her work, just like you can tell which critics and bloggers actually love the cinema and not just the Oscars or the box office tallies or the sound of their own voice. (Not that there's anything wrong with loving those things too -- I recommend two of the three! -- but the cinema must come first)
I already love Rachel but tonight she won my heart anew by having good taste in movies. After playing a clip from The Manchurian Candidate...
That was fictional senator Johnny Iselin doing his best Joe McCarthy act in the film The Manchurian Candidate, the original one, my favorite movie of all time.
This week four Congressional Republicans did their own best senator Johnny Iselin impressions, accusing the Council on American Islamic Relations of trying to infiltrate congressional offices with secret spy interns...
Or you can just mouth off in the comments. Share your love of The Manchurian Candidate or your anger that Angela Lansbury didn't win the Oscar for it ...that complaint never gets old.
Please note: If you have seen the remake but not the original, you're only hurting yourself. Make amends. *
Tuesday Top Ten: For the listmaker in me and the listlover in you
First things first, this disclaimer: I watch so little television that I'm rather like a SAG and movie awards show voter voting on the best of the film year having only seen 15 movies or so... (oh, come on, you know that's how they do. How else to explain the tiny pool of films they award or their lack of imagination in what to honor within those same films?) so with a huge grain of salt... my ten favorite TV-amajigs of the year
biggest anxiety: Joss Whedon's Dollhouse comes out in 2009. I've spent too much time in 2008 thinking about it. The reports of trouble on set are not surprising. This is the pinpoint reason I can't invest in TV... it's not safe to love anything. It's too emotionally draining to love TV. Movies last forever but TV shows get cancelled immediately if they're at all different/interesting: see #2
biggest surprise: the US version of Kath & Kim is not terrible. It's a little shaky but it's improving and Molly Shannon is still an underrated actor who exhibits range working from within very narrow characters (see also: The Year of the Dog). That said I heard from an LA friend who heard from a friend on set (unsubstantiated gossip. Wheeeee) that Molly & Selma Blair are most definitely not getting along: screaming matches!
Nathaniel's Top TV of 2008
10 Ronnie on Make Me a Super Model and Cody on Step It Up & Dance. Basically the only reason to watch reality television is to crush on cute boys (or girls depending on how you do). Don't you agree?
09Rachel Maddow on MSNBC
08Brothers & SistersI didn't use to understand why so many people added the qualifier "guilty" to "pleasure" when talking about it. Now I see. It's hard to take seriously but I've never once been tempted to stop watching it.
07The plot complications and expanding cast of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I have been a Terminator nut since -- for as long as I can remember. Despite that, I thought this show was a bad idea (how does one improve on Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day? The answer is that one does not. Though one wishes Lena Headey would at least try) and the first several episodes did nothing to change my mind. I still don't love any single performance or any episode in particular. But the longer it goes on, the more delicious nutty, overpopulated and convoluted it gets, the more I enjoy it despite all the things that aren't so good about it. Who'da thunk?
P.S. Good luck to Terminator Salvation trying to pretend that so many story threads from 3 Terminator movies and a tv series never happened and make sense of the ones they choose not to ignore.
06 Samantha Who? Hardly groundbreaking for a sitcom but still endearing. Extra bonus points: the trio of supporting actresses in Samantha's orbit (Jennifer Esposito, Melissa McCarthy and Emmy-winning Jean Smart) are totally invested in making with the funny: well done.
05True Blood. I love vampires. I didn't use to have to qualify that but here it goes. I love vampires that are interesting, mean, bloodthirsty and/or horny --not the stupid asexual twinkle-in-the-sunshine kind that were so popular this year. Blargh!
0430 Rock. The only show on television that literally makes me LOL each and every episode. Sometimes even LMFAO.
03Battlestar Galactica -still breath-stoppingly brilliant all the way into its fourth and final daring season. It will go down in history as one of the fullest small screen experiences of all time. If you're still not watching, watch the video Catch the Frak Up before the final episodes air in early 2009.
02Pushing Daisies -There's no show I look forward to seeing each week more. The second season has been an itty-bitty uneven but who cares. It's so rich: alternately amusing, bittersweet, wicked, morbid, musical, witty, eccentric and lovable. There's something to lose your fool mind and heart over in every damn episode. Just thinking about going without Olive, Ned, Chuck, Emerson and Aunts Vivian & Lily next year makes me need carbs. Lots and lots of them in pastry form --preferably with drops of anti-depressants added in the baking.
