"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Somewhere Between 1.7: No Deja Vu

So we found out in Somewhere Between 1.7 last night that Nico is not a killer, just a "black-out" drunk, which we already knew (both attributes), and that Tom is pretty bad, after all, though I still can't see him doing anything to hurt let alone kill his daughter.

I'll give this oddly acted show this: here we are after seven episodes, and we the audience almost haven't a clue as to what's really going on.  That's not easy to do in a narrative.  In effect, it puts the audience in the same boat as Laura and Nico, the two lead characters.

What I don't get - and that's why I tried to go easy, and say "oddly" acted - is why the acting is so obvious, almost cartoonish.  This applies to all the characters, big and small, up and down, including Paula Patton as Laura, who was memorable as Denzel Washington's love interest and focal point of the story in one of the best time-travel movies ever made, Deja Vu.

We're certainly not getting a sense of deja vu in her acting here, in Somewhere Between, where, when she's not rattling off her lines, she's making obvious faces, and whose fault is that?  The director's? And why would that be?  To make Somewhere Between seem more like a comic book?  I have no idea.

But the premise of the story is still intriguing, especially so because, somehow, we still don't know much more than the premise, which is why I keep watching every week, looking for more, looking forward to more.

See you next week.



Monday, August 28, 2017

Twin Peaks: The Return 1.16: Finally!

Well, by the far the best episode of Twin Peaks: The Return - 1.16 - with the two-hour finale on tap for next week (though the inside the atom bomb episode was a nonpareil story in itself).  But tonight -

1. As I (sarcastically) said I was hoping last week - because I'd just about given up hope - that near electrocution indeed brought the good Cooper back to life on Earth, totally woken out of his stupor.  I couldn't agree more with that little man from the other dimension, Cooper's (and our) guide of sorts, who said "Finally". Yes, indeed.   It was great to Cooper back to his old, so deeply decent self, and my favorite line was when he said "I am FBI."  Close seconds were the Twin Peaks theme playing as good Cooper moved back into play, and Cooper saying goodbye to Janey-E, and she realizing that he was something different from her Dougie, and something very good to her and their boy.

2. The shoot-out in front of Dougie's house was also top-notch Lynch, also reminiscent of the Cohen Brothers.  (As I think I mentioned in an earlier review, Fargo the television series is certainly deeply indebted to Twin Peaks.)  But every single character in that shoot-out was perfectly played, especially by Tim Roth (who just played one character, but he was just right in a deadpan way.)

3. Jim Belushi, who's been just outstanding all season in one of his finest comedic roles, was also just right tonight.  I read somewhere that David Lynch was unhappy with some or one or whatever of Belushi's ad libs - I don't know what the ad lib was, but what was on the screen tonight was high camp deluxe.  (And Robert Knepper as his brother was 100%, too.)

4. Even the ending was the best so far: a double-ending, with Eddie Vedder (Edward Louis Severson II) doing an acoustic-guitar concluding song, unexpectedly followed by Audrey dancing and clearly awakening from a nightmare herself.

In fact, this whole Return could be seen as awakening from a nightmare, because that's what it is. And now I'm feeling a little bad that it all be over next week (and hoping our Cooper will indeed come back to Janey-E).  See ya next week.

See also Twin Peaks: The Return 1.1-2: Superluminal Sans Cherry Pie ... 1.3-4: Coffee and Cole ... 1.5: The Mod Squad Meets Big Love in the Diner ... 1.6: Red Door and Childish Scribbles ... 1.7: Lost and Not Lost ... 1.8: Atom Bomb and Mr. Homn ... 1.9: "I Don't See No Hidden Buttons" ... 1.10: "No Stars" ... 1.11: Double Cherry Pie and Viva Las Vegas ... 1.12: No Song - Slim Hope of Deliverance ... 1.13: Humor ...1.14: Painstaking Progress ... 1.15: Meditation on a Gas Station

FREE on Amazon Prime

Available on Prime

Ray Donovan 5.4: How to Sell a Script

My favorite part of tonight's Ray Donovan 5.4 was the Mickey story, and how he goes about getting his Clover script into business.  It's something every writer who's not already a successful screen writer can relate to.

First, Mickey can't get to first or any base with his script.  Who knows how good it is - actually, from the little part he read to himself and us in the car, it had potential (though that may be just be a commentary on my taste or lack of).  But the point is that unless you have someone attached to it - someone usually being an actor with some heft - you won't get anywhere if you aren't already somewhere in Hollywood.

Fortune smiles on Mickey when he comes upon a successful actor in trouble - not in movie-making but in real life, as in accidentally cutting off the head of his samurai master teacher.  Not to worry, Mick knows what to do.  Cut up the body, put the parts in buckets of concrete, and throw them all in the ocean.  (Actually, I would have thrown them in different places, miles or whatever apart in the water, but I know even less about disposing dead bodies than I do about selling screenplays.)  (If you must know, I've so far had a total of one story made into a short movie - but that was not by anyone famous in Hollywood, though the movie is on Amazon Prime for free now - see end of this review.)

But back to Mick, after disposing of the late sensei, he breaks the news to the actor aka accidental killer - Mick's price for the body disposal is Jay (the actor) has to get behind Mick's script. This couldn't have come at a better time for Mick, having just been rejected along with his script by some high fallutin' agency.

(Hey, you know what?  I'd pay money to see Mick's movie.  Maybe not, I'll wait for it on Amazon Prime.)

But back to Ray - it's sad business, Abby being gone, which is why I'll end this here on happy note about Mick now having a fighting chance of breaking through.

FREE on Amazon Prime (see, I wasn't kidding)

Available on Prime



See Ray Donovan 5.1: Big Change

See also Ray Donovan 4.1: Good to Be Back ... Ray Donovan 4.2: Settling In ... Ray Donovan 4.4: Bob Seger ... Ray Donovan 4.7: Easybeats ... Ray Donovan 4.9: The Ultimate Fix ... Ray Donovan Season 4 Finale: Roses

And see also Ray Donovan 3.1: New, Cloudy Ray ... Ray Donovan 3.2: Beat-downs ... Ray Donovan 3.7: Excommunication!

And see also Ray Donovan 2.1: Back in Business ... Ray Donovan 2.4: The Bad Guy ... Ray Donovan 2.5: Wool Over Eyes ... Ray Donovan 2.7: The Party from Hell ... Ray Donovan 2.10: Scorching ... Ray Donovan 2.11: Out of Control ... Ray Donovan Season 2 Finale: Most Happy Ending

And see also Ray Donovan Debuts with Originality and Flair ... Ray Donovan 1.2: His Assistants and his Family ... Ray Donovan 1.3: Mickey ... Ray Donovan 1.7 and Whitey Bulger ... Ray Donovan 1.8: Poetry and Death ... Ray Donovan Season 1 Finale: The Beginning of Redemption

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Game of Thrones 7.7: End Wall

An excellent season 7 finale of Game of Thrones tonight - though, I have to say, not quite as exciting or decisive as last week's penultimate episode (but that's often the case these years - the next-to-last episode is often more mind-blowing or just better than the last, be it the season or series finale).

The problem here is that the ice or dead dragon bringing down the wall was predictable after we saw the fire wielder turn blue after death last week.   But it was still pretty impressive to see.

Also more predictable than it should have been was Bran's revelation that Jon and Danny are blood relatives.  But this was the fault of whoever leaked and opened up a big mouth all over the Internet about it.  But it's an excellent plot move, and made Jon and Danny in bed together near the end all the more wild.

Incest is of course the Lannister strong (or weak) suit.  And no one is saying that the King of the North and the Queen of Dragons are brother and sister.  But Jon being who he is does raise the question of who will ultimately be the new Targaryen ruler.   (And Jon's lineage does explain why he's not too uncomfortable with the dragons - I was half thinking that maybe Mormont's good advice could have been heeded with Jon and Daenerys each riding his and her dragon north.)

About the best unexpected part of the episode were the complex machinations of Cersei.   Very believable and well played, and I liked Jaime finally being free.  Up north, it was also nice and a nice twist to see Baelish get his just and knifed desert.

So, speaking of North and ice, now that the wall is gone, Winterfell is next in line for the march of the dead, accompanied by the blue death-breathing dead dragon (who, as I said last week, may yet have some vestige of loyalty to Daenerys), and it will be a long cold winter here on Earth until the next and final season.  The foot soldiers of these dead may be a little reminiscent of The Walking Dead, but the walkers in that series have neither Night King nor flying dead dragon.


And see also Game of Thrones 6.1: Where Are the Dragons ... Game of Thrones 6.2: The Waking ... Game of Thrones 6.5: Origin of a Name ... Game of Thrones 6.6: The Exhortation ... Game of Thrones 6.7: Giveth and Taketh ... Game of Thrones 6.8: Strategic Advantage ... Game of Thrones 6.9: A Night for the Light ... Game of Thrones Season 6 Finale: That Library

And see also Game of Thrones 5.1: Unsetting the Table ... Game of Thrones 5.8: The Power of Frigid Death ... Game of Thrones 5.9: Dragon in Action; Sickening Scene with Stannis ... Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale: Punishment

And see also Games of Thrones Season 4 Premiere: Salient Points ... Game of Thrones 4.2: Whodunnit? ... Game of Thrones 4.3: Who Will Save Tyrion ...Game of Thrones 4.4: Glimpse of the Ultimate Battle ... Game of Thrones 4.6: Tyrion on Trial ... Game of Thrones 4.8: Beetles and Battle ...Game of Thrones 4.9: The Fight for Castle Black ... Games of Thrones Season 4 Finale: Woven Threads


And see also Game of Thrones Back in Play for Season 2 ... Game of Thrones 2.2: Cersei vs. Tyrion

And see also A Game of Thrones: My 1996 Review of the First Novel ... Game of Thrones Begins Greatly on HBO ... Game of Thrones 1.2: Prince, Wolf, Bastard, Dwarf ... Games of Thrones 1.3: Genuine Demons ... Game of Thrones 1.4: Broken Things  ... Game of Thrones 1.5: Ned Under Seige ... Game of Thrones 1.6: Molten Ever After ... Games of Thrones 1.7: Swiveling Pieces ... Game of Thrones 1.8: Star Wars of the Realms ... Game of Thrones 1.9: Is Ned Really Dead? ... Game of Thrones 1.10 Meets True Blood

And here's a Spanish article in Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, in which I'm quoted about explicit sex on television, including on Game of Thrones.

And see "'Game of Thrones': Why the Buzz is So Big" article in The Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2014, with my quotes.

Also: CNN article, "How 'Game of Thrones' Is Like America," with quote from me



"I was here, in Carthage, three months from now ..."

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Review of Rob Sheffield's Dreaming the Beatles 14 of X: Unending 60s

Back with another review of Rob Sheffield's Dreaming the Beatles.  It's been more than three weeks since my last review.  I've been writing all kinds of things, but I've finished a few now (don't worry, I'll let you know when they're published), and I wanted to reward myself by getting back into Sheffield's book.

I'd intended to read a big chunk, but the first new chapter I encountered was so ... newsworthy ... that I had to devote a review just to that.  The whole book is newsworthy, meaning, I'm learning things about the Beatles and related groups in just about every chapter.  But the chapter "Helter Skelter" taught me something big and newsworthy that goes well beyond the Beatles, and I truly didn't know before.

Sheffield says if you ask 100 people on street, 99 will tell you that Charles Manson not only incited but actually committed the infamous Tate-La Bianca murders.   I'd be one of those 99 -- or would have been, until I read this chapter, in which Sheffield explains that Manson was not even physically in the room in which the murders occurred.  He indeed was convicted of First Degree Murder, hence the assumption that he actually, physically did the murders - but this is as factually incorrect as the notion that somehow The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" was responsible for the murders, because it seized and somehow commanded Manson's sick mind, an idiocy which Sheffield also intelligently disposes of.

I at least never believed for a moment that second idea - you cannot, on general principle, blame what a psycho might be inspired to do on a popular culture inspiration.  The blame resides with the human monster, not the works he may have read, heard, or seen.

Sheffield argues that the combination of the Manson murders (Beatles) and Altamont murders (Stones) ended the 1960s.   They certainly put a serious dent in that age.  But I've always argued, to the contrary, and contra Don MacLean, that ultimately the 60s never died.   The forces of creativity and freedom unleashed in that decade have taken many a beating in the ensuing years and decades, including most recently with the election and presidency of Donald Trump.

But the sixties live on, nonetheless.  I just heard "Dr. Robert" on the Beatles Channel on Sirius/XM Radio.  Yesterday I heard "I'll Follow the Sun".  And I just read an eye-opening chapter in Sheffield's wonderful book.   More soon.


See also Review of Rob Sheffield's Dreaming the Beatles 1 of X: The Love Affair ... 2 of X: The Heroine with a Thousand Faces ... 3 of X: Dear Beatles ... 4 of X: Paradox George ... 5 of X: The Power of Yeah ... 6 of X: The Case for Ringo ... 7 of X: Anatomy of a Ride ... 8 of X: Rubber Soul on July 4 ... 9 of X: Covers ... 10 of X: I. A. Richards ... 11 of X: Underrated Revolver ... 12 of X: Sgt. Pepper ... 13 of X: Beatles vs. Stones ... 15 of X: Voting for McCartney, Again ... 16 of X: "I'm A Loser" ... 17 of X: The Split ... 18 of X: "Absolute Elsewhere... 19 of X: (Unnecessary but Brilliant) Defense of McCartney ... 20 of X: "All Things Must Pass" ... 21 of X: Resistance ... 22: The 70s Till the End ... 23: Near the Science Fiction Shop ... 24 of 24: The Last Two

And here's "It's Real Life" -- free alternate history short story about The Beatles, made into a radio play and audiobook and winner of The Mary Shelley Award 2023



 
lots of Beatles in here

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Somewhere Between 1.6: Nico

A wild last few minutes of Somewhere Between 1.6 tonight, in which it is revealed that the real killer of the victims Nico's brother is on deathrow for, or at least one of the victims, is ... [big spoiler alert]

None other than Nico!

Except we have only Nico's brother's word for it, and let's face it, he's not the most reliable witness, is he.   And revealing a true killer in the last few minutes of an episode, which is not even the finale, smacks of false lead or red herring to me.

Not to mention that Nico doesn't seems like a killer.  His brother says he's mean when he's drunk, but that means he's a killer?  I doubt it.  Not that it wouldn't be one powerful twist if he were the killer, but I just don't believe it.

Also - the husband, Tom, was shown point blank talking on the phone with the two bad guys who presumably were out to kill Laura and Nico, and certainly risk Serena's life, so he seems like more of a villain than even last week, when I said I couldn't quite see him harming his daughter.  I guess we don't know for a fact what that pair straight out of Pulp Fiction were really out to do - maybe not kill or even hurt anybody - but they sure were giving a pretty good impression of would-be killers throughout the episode.

The voice over at the end said that Nico and Laura were quickly approaching their fate in the water. This series is still managing to be somewhat interesting, even though the narrative is a klunky and there hasn't been much if any time travel in the past few episodes.

See you back here a little closer to fate next week.



Monday, August 21, 2017

Twin Peaks 1.15: Meditation on a Gas Station

I guess that was a gas station in Twin Peaks: The Return 1.15 tonight - whatever exactly that was in the forest, where bad Cooper arrived in his vehicle.  The structure behind it look a little like, I don't know, some kind of room and board, or maybe some kind of lodge, yeah that was more likely it.  And someone very family offered to unlock the door for him, in that other-dimensionally super-slow distorted voice.

Anyway, I think that scene was very effective, especially the way it all faded back into the forest when the action was over.  Like it's always there, if the right person, or right un-person, to use the Alice in Wonderland construction (always appropriate for Twin Peaks) happens to drive up.

Other good scenes include the couple with the guy with the gun in the forest, leaning against the mossy tree, she trying to seduce him out of not using the gun on himself, but getting uneasy, to say the least, when she starts to succeed.   Something about that scene made a little more sense than usual, though I couldn't tell you exactly what.

And the good Cooper, still in a stupor, putting the right end of his metal fork into that electrical outlet. Good thing for the story it wasn't a plastic utensil.  This definitely has to move the story along.  I mean, either this will electrocute Cooper and send him back to the lodge, or it will literally shock him out of his stupor - I keep hoping.

I find the scene in jail - the combination of the guy with the beaten face and the woman with I don't know what kind of face - too unpleasant to talk about, so I won't.

Ok, there was one happy ending at the very beginning of the episode, but that's not all that much for 15 episodes in and not many more to go.  See you here next week.

See also Twin Peaks: The Return 1.1-2: Superluminal Sans Cherry Pie ... 1.3-4: Coffee and Cole ... 1.5: The Mod Squad Meets Big Love in the Diner ... 1.6: Red Door and Childish Scribbles ... 1.7: Lost and Not Lost ... 1.8: Atom Bomb and Mr. Homn ... 1.9: "I Don't See No Hidden Buttons" ... 1.10: "No Stars" ... 1.11: Double Cherry Pie and Viva Las Vegas ... 1.12: No Song - Slim Hope of Deliverance ... 1.13: Humor ... 1.14: Painstaking Progress

FREE on Amazon Prime

Available on Prime

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Game of Thrones 7.6: Two to One

I thought tonight's Game of Thrones 7.6 was the best episode so far in the entire series.

We finally got to see the battle between the dragons and the dead. Dragon fire versus dead ice and everything that led up to it tonight was peak Game of Thrones, profound and breathtaking.  And the battle itself ...

Well, we've already seen that the dragons are not invincible.  The Lannister auto-spear almost brought one of them down a few weeks ago.  The Night King's aim and weapon of course was much better.  Calmly throwing throwing that life-ending spear.   I knew as soon as Viserion was shot down that we'd see blue eyes in that fearsome head before too long.  And so we did.

So now, at least as far as dragons go, the forces of fire and humanity have a two-to-one advantage over the dead.  That's a lot worse than three to zero.  But we still do not completely understand the relationship between Daenerys and her children.  Perhaps Viserion, even dead, will still have some recognition of, some loyalty to, some love of, the woman who it (not sure of its gender) regards as its mother.  And that could, of course, be decisive in some ultimate battle.  (Similar questions have long been raised in The Walking Dead, and the answers have never been on the side of life.  But that's a different series.)

Almost as significant as the battle, in its own way, was the hand-holding of Daenerys and Jon.  With all the speculation on the Internet that they might be closely related, that sure looked like an early expression of a different kind of love.  I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the two together, though likely not as soon as the season finale next week.

And that conversation between Sansa and Arya - one of the best conversations between any two Starks in the entire series.  I really thought for a moment that there was a chance that Arya would kill her sister.  More was accomplished this season than in all the previous seasons put together.  Bring on that 81-minute season finale.


And see also Game of Thrones 6.1: Where Are the Dragons ... Game of Thrones 6.2: The Waking ... Game of Thrones 6.5: Origin of a Name ... Game of Thrones 6.6: The Exhortation ... Game of Thrones 6.7: Giveth and Taketh ... Game of Thrones 6.8: Strategic Advantage ... Game of Thrones 6.9: A Night for the Light ... Game of Thrones Season 6 Finale: That Library

And see also Game of Thrones 5.1: Unsetting the Table ... Game of Thrones 5.8: The Power of Frigid Death ... Game of Thrones 5.9: Dragon in Action; Sickening Scene with Stannis ... Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale: Punishment

And see also Games of Thrones Season 4 Premiere: Salient Points ... Game of Thrones 4.2: Whodunnit? ... Game of Thrones 4.3: Who Will Save Tyrion ...Game of Thrones 4.4: Glimpse of the Ultimate Battle ... Game of Thrones 4.6: Tyrion on Trial ... Game of Thrones 4.8: Beetles and Battle ...Game of Thrones 4.9: The Fight for Castle Black ... Games of Thrones Season 4 Finale: Woven Threads


And see also Game of Thrones Back in Play for Season 2 ... Game of Thrones 2.2: Cersei vs. Tyrion

And see also A Game of Thrones: My 1996 Review of the First Novel ... Game of Thrones Begins Greatly on HBO ... Game of Thrones 1.2: Prince, Wolf, Bastard, Dwarf ... Games of Thrones 1.3: Genuine Demons ... Game of Thrones 1.4: Broken Things  ... Game of Thrones 1.5: Ned Under Seige ... Game of Thrones 1.6: Molten Ever After ... Games of Thrones 1.7: Swiveling Pieces ... Game of Thrones 1.8: Star Wars of the Realms ... Game of Thrones 1.9: Is Ned Really Dead? ... Game of Thrones 1.10 Meets True Blood

And here's a Spanish article in Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, in which I'm quoted about explicit sex on television, including on Game of Thrones.

And see "'Game of Thrones': Why the Buzz is So Big" article in The Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2014, with my quotes.

Also: CNN article, "How 'Game of Thrones' Is Like America," with quote from me



"I was here, in Carthage, three months from now ..."

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