Wilfred

So I saw a few really weird commercials for FX's new series Wilfred and I had no idea what to expect.  I knew Elijah Wood was in it and a guy dressed up in a dog costume but that's about it.  I watched the first episode last week, and I still have little idea what's going on.  But damn it was funny.  It follows a depressed, suicidal man, Ryan (Elijah Wood), who seems to be living a life that he has let others choose for him.  No surprise that he is miserable.  Suddenly, a new friend enters his life, the neighbor's dog, Wilfred (Jason Gann).  But the dog is actually a guy dressed in a dog suit.  Is he hallucinating this?  Sure seems like it.  Maybe this will be resolved in future episodes, maybe not.  Is Wilfred someone who can get Ryan to break out of his depression and live life on his own terms?  Maybe.  Is Wilfred setting up Ryan for disaster?  Maybe.  Either way it will be fun to watch.  Watch the trailer below.

Movie Review - Super 8

Coming off of his success re-launching the Star Trek series, J.J. Abrams gives us nostalgia for those early Spielberg classics with his new film Super 8.   And in many ways he pulls it off.   What I think is lacking in many movies these days are films depicting real kids, acting like real kids.  This is what Spielberg perfected in E.T.  It's so refreshing to see kids seen as full realized characters, not just set-pieces to create drama.  For some reason, movies in the 80's were full of movies driven by kids as the main actors, with stories that adults could not only tolerate but really enjoy: E.T, Stand By Me, The Goonies, The Lost Boys, Karate Kid.  Rarely do we see movies involving kids that approach anything worth spending $11 for these days.

But J. J. Abrams takes a play out of Spielberg's playbook here, and puts the story of a mysterious creature running a muck in small-town U.S.A. in the hands of child-actors.  And it pays off big time.  The early scenes when we are meeting the characters and watching this gang of kids make a home movie, is probably the best part of the film for me.  The kids are witty, funny, and emotional, but all with that innocence you can't get with adult characters.  Actually, the kids are so good, it highlights how weak and little developed the few adult characters are.  The adults (the two father-figures) are clearly playing types to set-up the big heartfelt reunion at the end.

But that feel of early Spieberg is for the most part a welcome sight, even if it is pretty heavy-handed in some places - heck, even the setting of late 70's America evokes those films.  And although it was an original score by Michael Giacchino, you would swear John Williams was behind the music.  There are many scenes and shots that are direct homages to E.T.:  the mass of flashlights running through the dark, the mad dash through town by the kids during a climactic scene, and a menacing scene inside a government-run labratory.  But although noticable to any Spielberg fan, I thought all of this hat-tipping rarely took away from the story or the fun of watching a good sci-fi thriller - until the last scene that is.

doing their best E.T. impersonation

Once the screen faded to black, I couldn't help imagine J. J. Abrams struggling with how to the end this film, and after days of getting nowhere he watches the end of E.T. for inspiration.  He thinks, well, it worked in E.T., let's just copy the ending.  Within a couple minutes of the end of the film, all the conflicts in the movie are all neatly wrapped up to set up that perfect E.T. ending, as all the main characters look on with tear-filled embraces and watch the space-ship with the departing alien aboard as he speeds away into the night.  End credits.  And if E.T. was on-board I may have understood the scene repeat, but here's an alien that (yes, deserves sympathy) but just ate half the town!  You can't have an E.T. ending when the heartfelt goodbye is to a mass-murderer.  Plus, the moment of heartbrake as the child symbolically let's go of his missing parent, played out to perfection in E. T., is so deliberately thrown in here for emotional impact as to be laughable.  Did I mention this scene bugged me?

Ok, Ok, despite the ending and the wooden adult characters, the movie was still a lot of fun and a great, family-friendly summer flick.  Enjoy!  3 Stars.

Bernard Herrmann at 100

Check out this great photo essay of one the first masters of film scores.  Bernard Hermann wrote music for a film the way a screenwriter would create drama and intrigue for their characters.  He would write music to suit a character's mood, heighten a scene's tension and turmoil, and bring a bit of the inner phsycology of a character out in the open.  Although par for the course these days, he was the first to work with the filmaker from early shooting through editing, crafting music for the film, and doing all the orchestrations.  He learned his craft in the trenches with Orson Welles, conducting the music for his radio productions in the late thirties.  What he perfected on those radio broadcasts is use of music to transition between scenes and tie dialogue together.  He took those lessons learned from radio and went on to score Citizen Kane, some of Hitchcock's greatests: Vertigo, Psycho, North by Northwest, and many sci-fi classics.  Below is some of his work, including a tribute with a compilation of his scores.

I've thought for a while that there needs to be more symphonies touring and playing film scores.  That would be a fun show!  And if there were scenes of some of those great films playing as a backdrop - even better!

Werner Herzog reads "Go the F**k to Sleep"

I am not a parent, but this book must resonate with all those parents out there. And having Wernor Herzog do the narration is just brilliant. Who wouldn't want to be put to sleep by that guy's voice? That dreamy, wordly voice of his sure sets up that perfect contrast between patiently...whispering...children to sleep...zzzzzz, and saying F**k it! Just Go To Sleep Already!

Peter Ostroushko - Heart of the Heartland

This song, originally written by Peter Ostroushko for his album of the same name, was first imprinted on my brain about 12 years ago when watching Ken Burn's great documentary about Lewis and Clark.  Heart of the Heartland being one of many originals and traditional folk tunes that are on that soundtrack that I've been addicted to ever since.  I actually just ordered a dirt-cheap mandolin, in part just so I can learn to play this song - oh and other tunes I guess...