While it didn’t reach the producers’ goal of coming in at three hours, last night’s Academy Awards broadcast delivered a grand, classy, memorable evening nonetheless. The opening number by host Hugh Jackman was a bit rocky (it's hard to top Billy Crystal), with references to pubic hair and human excrement threatening to amp up the ick factor, though it did provide occasion for Anne Hathaway to show off her hitherto unknown vocal chops (I can definitely see her playing Elphaba in the anticipated film adaptation of Wicked). But anything that didn’t work in that opening was offset by a terrific salute to movie musicals later in the show, a vision brought to us courtesy of Moulin Rouge director Baz Lurhmann. Jackman himself, a fine song-and-dance man who has excelled in years past as host of the Tony Awards, was absent for large sections of the broadcast, prompting Will Smith to joke that he was backstage taking a nap. Underused though he was, Jackman still gave the night an air of movie star magic.
The awards themselves nearly took a backseat to the way in which they were presented. The technical categories were doled out in the same order as each process would occur during the actual making of a movie (screenplay, art direction, costume design, makeup, etc.). Who knew an awards show could be an educational experience? And the acting categories were truly special this year. More than the usual reading off of names, past Oscar winners were brought out to give mini-tributes to each of the nominated actors, offering praise for their performances and putting each of them into a greater overall context. Even the losers had to feel as though their work had been more than validated. (One hiccup here was Alan Arkin's transposing of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s first and middle names, eliciting an eye roll from Hoffman.)
The only thing I can really find to complain about from last night’s show was the "In Memoriam" segment. Accompanied by a lovely song from Queen Latifah, the segment was so wrapped up in fancy camera moves that it was difficult to tell who some of the people on screen were, robbing them of a final burst of applause. A minor quibble for a show that had the feel of a Broadway-caliber presentation, with elaborate set pieces, musical interludes, and a good helping of that old razzle-dazzle. The scope of the show even dwarfed the egos that usually run rampant at these events; the glad-handing and back-patting was mercifully sparse. Danny Boyle, accepting his award for directing the night’s big winner, Slumdog Millionaire, summed up the evening in the best and simplest way: it was “bloody wonderful.”
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
It's All About Me
As seems appropriate for two new shows that have the word “me” in their titles, Trust Me and Lie to Me are a tad too smitten with themselves to be completely effective. But that doesn’t necessarily make them bad shows. In fact, they’re both watchable even if they don’t exactly break new ground in the realm of TV drama.
TNT’s Trust Me (Mondays, 10pm), set inside a Chicago ad agency, stars Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack and Ed’s Tom Cavanagh as creative director and copywriter, respectively. McCormack’s Mason is uncomfortable in his newly assigned role, a promotion he receives after the previous boss drops dead in his office from a heart attack. And Conner (Cavanagh), who so far hasn’t been given enough to do, is jealous of his friend’s success. In fact, the entire office seems to be angry with Mason for different reasons, the most ridiculous of which is the new hire who keeps demanding an office with a window. The two leads are well-suited to this environment, a combination of down-to-earth and smug that reverberates through most advertisements these days, including the ones presented on the show. Said ad campaigns are the show’s true highlight, stretching the writers into playing dual roles: screenwriter and copywriter. The second episode’s “Do Thumbthing” cell phone tagline was truly creative, though it would have been better if Mason hadn’t referred to it as “brilliant,” which feels to me like the writers complimenting themselves on their own inventiveness. Trust Me is more real than some of TNT’s other dramas (Leverage, Saving Grace), which could explain why it’s already struggling in the ratings (it dropped from 3.4 million viewers for its premiere to 1.9 million in week two). For me, that reality makes it easier to get involved with these characters, even if they’re already a little too involved with themselves.
Lie to Me (Fox, Wednesdays, 9pm) is also characterized by a case of the clevers: it’s built around a firm that contributes to crime investigations by analyzing facial expressions and body language. The problem here is that everyone—actor and viewer alike—is too aware of every forehead wrinkle, upturned lip, and nose twitch. For the actors, it takes away a layer of authenticity from their performance; you can see them thinking too much about exactly how they have to react. And as a viewer, I find myself watching too closely to see if I can pick up on any tells, thereby pulling me out of the story entirely. And what about the stories? Well, like many crime dramas, so far there’s nothing special about them. The first three episodes all had cases taking place in educational settings: dead teacher who threatened to expose a principal-student relationship, college basketball player accepts a bribe, dead student involved in cheating scandal. What saves it all are the performances of film actor Tim Roth as the firm’s owner and Kelli Williams (The Practice) as one of his investigators. Williams, especially, seems to be having a ball with the material, and she and Roth have a good rapport that makes the show worth watching, even if the cases and central gimmick aren’t as intoxicating as the writers seem to think they are. Trust me; would I ever lie to you?
TNT’s Trust Me (Mondays, 10pm), set inside a Chicago ad agency, stars Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack and Ed’s Tom Cavanagh as creative director and copywriter, respectively. McCormack’s Mason is uncomfortable in his newly assigned role, a promotion he receives after the previous boss drops dead in his office from a heart attack. And Conner (Cavanagh), who so far hasn’t been given enough to do, is jealous of his friend’s success. In fact, the entire office seems to be angry with Mason for different reasons, the most ridiculous of which is the new hire who keeps demanding an office with a window. The two leads are well-suited to this environment, a combination of down-to-earth and smug that reverberates through most advertisements these days, including the ones presented on the show. Said ad campaigns are the show’s true highlight, stretching the writers into playing dual roles: screenwriter and copywriter. The second episode’s “Do Thumbthing” cell phone tagline was truly creative, though it would have been better if Mason hadn’t referred to it as “brilliant,” which feels to me like the writers complimenting themselves on their own inventiveness. Trust Me is more real than some of TNT’s other dramas (Leverage, Saving Grace), which could explain why it’s already struggling in the ratings (it dropped from 3.4 million viewers for its premiere to 1.9 million in week two). For me, that reality makes it easier to get involved with these characters, even if they’re already a little too involved with themselves.
Lie to Me (Fox, Wednesdays, 9pm) is also characterized by a case of the clevers: it’s built around a firm that contributes to crime investigations by analyzing facial expressions and body language. The problem here is that everyone—actor and viewer alike—is too aware of every forehead wrinkle, upturned lip, and nose twitch. For the actors, it takes away a layer of authenticity from their performance; you can see them thinking too much about exactly how they have to react. And as a viewer, I find myself watching too closely to see if I can pick up on any tells, thereby pulling me out of the story entirely. And what about the stories? Well, like many crime dramas, so far there’s nothing special about them. The first three episodes all had cases taking place in educational settings: dead teacher who threatened to expose a principal-student relationship, college basketball player accepts a bribe, dead student involved in cheating scandal. What saves it all are the performances of film actor Tim Roth as the firm’s owner and Kelli Williams (The Practice) as one of his investigators. Williams, especially, seems to be having a ball with the material, and she and Roth have a good rapport that makes the show worth watching, even if the cases and central gimmick aren’t as intoxicating as the writers seem to think they are. Trust me; would I ever lie to you?
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
My TV Has Feelings, Too
The Los Angeles Times has a report on a ridiculous study linking depression and watching TV. Why is it ridiculous? Well, the study followed the media consumption habits of 4,142 teens from 1995-2002, eventually concluding that 308 of them displayed depressive symptoms by the end of the study. That amounts to a little more than seven percent of the participants being deemed depressed. The CDC released a study of its own back in September 2008 saying that more than one in twenty Americans aged 12 and older, or 5.4%, suffers from depression. If five percent of the population is already depressed, how can you possibly say that television has any tangible effect on anybody?
There are so many factors that go into a person’s emotional well being that it’s almost unprofessional to cite TV as a major cause of mental illness. And why doesn’t the study blame radio, which participants spent just as many hours listening to as they did sitting in front of the television? I’m sick and tired of TV being used as a convenient scapegoat for everything that’s wrong with society one day, only to be called a unifying force capable of bringing the entire nation together like nothing else can the next. Make up your mind, people! Call it good, call it bad, just be consistent. And don’t be so naïve as to think that what teens watch on TV could possibly have a more harmful effect on them than what they deal with every single day in the halls of their high school.
There are so many factors that go into a person’s emotional well being that it’s almost unprofessional to cite TV as a major cause of mental illness. And why doesn’t the study blame radio, which participants spent just as many hours listening to as they did sitting in front of the television? I’m sick and tired of TV being used as a convenient scapegoat for everything that’s wrong with society one day, only to be called a unifying force capable of bringing the entire nation together like nothing else can the next. Make up your mind, people! Call it good, call it bad, just be consistent. And don’t be so naïve as to think that what teens watch on TV could possibly have a more harmful effect on them than what they deal with every single day in the halls of their high school.
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