Culture Surfing

"Don't you have any pills to take? You seem so cheerful today"

Distancing itself from the chaos of the first episode, “Big Love” settled down this week back into its natural rhythm, nicely weaving together several story lines, and setting up some much-anticipated upheavals.  As some seasons-long troubles came to an end (battling with Roman, the FBI, the DA’s office), Bill, in typical fashion, refused to allow the peace to last long.  As his daughter Sarah aptly put it, “oh, you know … another day, another revelation.”

With the compound drama at his back, Bill believes he has received a testimonial from God to run for State Senate.  While his motivations are at first primarily angled to prevent a strong anti-polygamist from taking the office, Bill later finds conviction from his family’s disapproval (oddly enough) to know “for certain” that this is the path he will take.  For those of us scratching our heads and reminding Bill as his family did, “uh, Bill, you’re a polygamist,” Bill quickly explains, “polygamy is a misdemeanor. It won’t cost me the office.  I want to put a new face on The Principle … that’s what this has been about.”  He might as well have been talking about the entire series thus far.  The Henricksen’s life has sanitized the fundamentalist practice of polygamy for viewers, even though the dark side of The Principle is never far from view (does anyone else still get chills at the very mention of the “Joy Book”?)

Last week I mentioned how “Big Love” is at its best when it focuses primarily on the wives.  As if hearing my call as a testament, this week’s “The Greater Good” was full of drama for Barb, Nicki* and Margene, all of whom were asked to sacrifice personal gains for that of the fold.

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Lynskey and Winslet as frightening friends

In his recent review of The Lovely Bones, Curt Holman made reference to the film that elevated Peter Jackson from a “purveyor of lively schlock” to the kind of director who would be given the keys to one of the most intricate and imaginative film franchises in history.  Before Jackson delved into crafting the expectations of our collective fantasy of Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he explored a much darker and more personal world of delusion: the Parker-Hulme murder.

Based on the diaries of Pauline Parker (portrayed by the oft-overlooked but fiercely engaging Melanie Lynskey), Heavenly Creatures (1994) chronicles the mutually obsessive, potentially homoerotic relationship between two young teenage girls in 1950s New Zealand, whose shared delusions lead to the murder of Pauline’s mother – by the girls’ own hand.  It was also the first feature film role for Kate Winslet, who played the feisty and damaged Juliet Hulme, Parker’s co-assailant and object of affection.

Continue reading “Fantasy and Murder: Heavenly Creatures Revisited” »

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Where did the Beach Boys go? God only knows

Pardon me as a I finish up singing along with A Juniper Creek Christmas (favorite track: “Silent Wife”) and shift gears into 2010 and a new year on the compound.  HBO’s promos of their polygamist drama’s fourth season swore “Everything. Will. Change.”  Did it?

Boy howdy it sure as H-E-double-hockey-sticks did!  At least, with the opening credits.  The most central struggles in “Big Love” have always been about balance — the Henricksens’ struggles between the compound and the LDS church, the prairie and the suburbs, the Principle and their faith, Home Plus and Weber Gaming, and most of all, Bill’s attentions and affections among his wives.  The opening credits for seasons 1-3 showed Bill and his wives skating on metaphorically and literally thin ice. In the new sequence, we see Bill, Barb, Nikki and Margene falling through the darkness, having completely let go and drifting away from each other, without Bill or any of them being able to control a thing.  Have they lost the battle?

Though the title of last night’s episode was “Free at Last” (a nod to the “ghost who’s been haunting us,” as Bill refers to the deceased Roman Grant), the Henricksens are far from free of anything, most especially the fallen leader of Juniper Creek.  The episode should have been called “Weekend at Roman’s,” since the prophet’s corpse steals far too many scenes. (What was more chilling: the corpse in the meat locker? On a deck chair in the desert?  In the back of Alby’s car?  Collect all 3!)  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Big Love’ season 4 premiere” »

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PLEASE: Only speak in declaratives and affirmative adverbs

“Pushing Daisies” is about a man who can bring the dead back to life with one touch, but only for a minute or someone else dies. He needs only to touch them a second time to send them into eternal rest … permanently. It’s fitting, perhaps, that ABC’s chosen to resurrect the show from cancellation to air the remaining three episodes of season two, but without hope of complete revival.  Coincidental again is the choice of timing for the episodes — the middle of summer, Saturday night … graveyard shift (10 p.m.).

ABC has been much criticized for canceling the interesting and promising show before its time, though as I went through my own “Daisy” retread over the last several weeks, I saw a show uncertain of its future starting to lose its way. The murder-of-the-week plots were becoming annoying and distracting B-plots, taking away precious time from our endearing and quirky heroes.

Last we left the precious Piemaker Ned (Lee Pace), his formerly dead girlfriend Lonely Tourist Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel), their private-eye cohort Emerson Cod (Chi McBride), and their Itty Bitty (and occasional chanteuse) Olive Snook (Kristen Chenowith), Ned had given up waking the dead and sleuthing.  He also let slip to Olive that he “didn’t always not look at her like he looked at Chuck,” causing Olive to immediately start reading the informative tome The Double Negative: What You Shouldn’t Not Know.

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LIVE TOGETHER: or Die Alone

First thing’s first: SPOILERS ABOUND. Second thing: What lies in the shadow of the statue?  A whole lotta win. “Lost” certainly delivered another one of its trademark “epic” season finales.  The episode titled “The Incident” should be renamed, in hindsight, “Because of Jacob.” Because of Jacob our Losties are all on the island in the first place. Because of Jacob we have a reason for all of this madness and a real chance at a great final season. Most importantly, because of Jacob, Richard “Ricardos” Alpert was made immortal and non-aging in all his attractive glory, and for that we are truly grateful.

The cast list this week was immense, but “The Incident” closed more doors than it opened with former and current cast members.  Another alternate title for the episode might have been “Vincent’s Return,” a situation pondered by fans since the whole frozen donkey wheel mess began. Never fear, Vincent is living happily with Rose and Bernard (who inhabit what later becomes Jacob’s cabin). Wisely, the two want nothing to do with the rest of the Losties, but instead are retired in a cottage living each day as it comes and unconcerned about death. Black-and-white rock/Adam and Eve, anyone?

Pretty much everyone on the original Oceanic 815 flight got a shout-out tonight, mostly in regard to Jacob’s role in his/her past, which helped bring them to the island. Plenty of questions answered there, one of the biggest being how Hurley was released from prison and gained access to Charley’s guitar.

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ season 5 finale” »

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ONE EPISODE LEFT: Some much to say, so little time

There’s a theory regarding the pleasures of delayed gratification via online shopping. It starts with the small thrill of buying something over the internet. It’s not yet tactile, but you know it’s coming. Depending on your shipping methods, you’re either waiting at the mailbox every day or have semi-forget about the package altogether. Either way, when that box comes, it’s a little bit birthday and a little bit Christmas. Online videos have even been posted of people carefully and deliberately opening their packages, savoring each moment before their present to themselves is revealed.

Richard Alpert is this week’s wrapping paper for Darlton’s gift that’s been carefully unveiled in small parts for several seasons now. Though “Follow the Leader” was initially rumored to be the Richard backstory episode Lostphiles have been waiting at the proverbial mailbox for, it wasn’t quite so obvious. We did see Richard (looking like a true GQ gentlemen in all spaces and places) throughout time, but it was time we’re already familiar with. The episode was Richard-centric insofar as his (never-aging) presence coherently linked our two Lostie camps.

I have to say, for being some kind of “adviser” who’s had the job for “a very, very, very long time,” Richard appears constantly perplexed. Does the island tell him anything? And who are all those Others anyway?  Where did they come from? Next week’s episode appears to promise answers to some of these questions — after all, Darlton said this was going to be the last season of sci-fi business. If so, there’s a lot of island mythology that will need to be sewn up before we delve head first into the Quadrangle. (The Quadrangle is the current preferred term for the Jack-Kate-Sawyer-Juliet mess.)  Though Faraday’s death last week shocked and appalled, rumor has it that wasn’t the “major” death this season. Will one of the Quad-dwellers die off?

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 15″ »

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RIP: Brother from an Other Mother

I typed two completely different versions of this review — one last night that was full of love, and one this morning that was full of hate. (*Spoiler Alert*!) The swap came after some rumination over “The Variable,” set up to be an epic “Lost” classic. (The show’s 100th episode to follow Obama’s 100 days speech? Come on!) It succeeded and it failed in its attempts. I’m mostly frustrated for myself and every other nerdcore Lostie out there who’s sat through recent episodes this season saying “Yeah, yeah, yeah, OK we know, we know … but now what?”

“The Variable” belonged completely to Daniel “Twitchy” Faraday, fan favorite only behind his oft episodic-counterpart Desmond “Motorboater” Hume. Some questions of Faraday’s history were answered (yes, Widmore is his father); his present revealed (Why we saw him in the Dharma mines to open the season; Why it was so important to find Eloise Hawking), and his future decided (gunned down by mother as an adult in her past — would anything less complicated do?), all of which played out good guesses with a few twists that, in typical “Lost” fashion, both satisfied and beguiled.

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 14″ »

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YOU CAN CHANGE: Your own diaper

Ah yes, the long awaited Miles episode! I usually complain about needless backstory episodes (cough, Jack’s tattoos, cough) that don’t push the narrative forward enough, but “Some Like it Hoth” was a crowd pleaser, and I thereby refuse to judge it harshly. Miles the Swindler Ghost Whisperer held court this week as we sprinted through his life story: toddler Miles in a single-parent low-rent household; punk Miles uneasy with his gifts and searching for answers; and adult Miles, exploiting the grieving for cash and about to be recruited by Widmore. Finally, we learned that Dr. “Douchebag” Chang is Miles’ “Douchebag” Dad. Fellow watchers inform me that the rumor of Chang as Miles’ father has been around for some time, but since I apparently missed that boat my mouth was suitably agape at the thought. Of course, Miles has had three years to get used to the idea since, “on the third day here I was in line in the cafeteria and my mom got into the line behind me.  That was my first clue.”

At first gander, “Some Like it Hoth” feels chock full of island lore, but for most “Lost” devotees the reveals weren’t anything new.  Hey, there’s the Hatch! Hey, Kate’s messing something up! Hey, everyone on the island has Daddy issues! We saw the beginnings of study regarding the island’s electromagnetism (thanks to an unfortunate Dharma Denizen’s filling being yanked through his brain. It’s not a plane but … it will be). We don’t know what Chang is learning from the bodies (or what he’s doing with them when he’s done), but we do know something even stranger — he loves country music.

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 13″ »

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GOODBYE PANTHERS: Hello East Dillon High

“Tomorrow Blues” began five months from where we left off last week, with the Dillon Panthers losing the state championship thanks to JD’s family crisis and his subsequent meltdown. Though the episode opened with a montage of carefree spring moments — lounging by the pool, the crack of baseball bats, taking in an afternoon movie — there’s trouble a-brewin’ in Dillon. Coach Taylor’s contract is up for renewal (already?), and Joe McCoy is looking to make a power play that involves taking over the team and placing his main lackey, Wade Aikman, as head coach.

To be fair, Eric’s tenure at Dillon High has always existed on the brink. It took a full season to get the town’s support, and he continued to struggle against Buddy and Boosters for the remainder of his time. It’s of little wonder then that he hesitated to make a strong play to keep his job, showing up at the board meeting simply to state the facts, “I love this team, I love my job, and I’m good at it.” In the end, it wasn’t enough, but a final shot of Eric and Tami standing together among the ruins of the East Dillon High football field gave the hope that Coach Taylor can start fresh and really prove himself with a new team.

Had this been the final season of “Friday Night Lights,” as was originally rumored, I can’t help but feel the ending would have been mostly satisfactory. There was enough closure (Lyla and Tyra going to the colleges of their dreams) yet enough left open (the Taylor’s future in Dillon, Tim and Matt both considering not going to college) to go either way. As much as I believed this should have been “FNL’s” swan song, the possibilities of another season focusing on the fight between the evil Joe McCoy and the good Coach Taylor as cross-town rivals is both  promising and downright exciting.

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Friday Night Lights’ season three finale” »

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JUDGMENT DAY: Smokey can be bad for your health

The first thing we learned in “Dead is Dead” is that dead is not dead. At least, not in conventional ways. After a mediocre Kate-isode last week, this Ben-centric episode felt epic. The man formerly known as Henry Gale was in full manipulation mode last night, and the episode’s sole focus on him highlighted the fact that, all in all, there’s not been enough Ben in the fractured, busy storytelling of late. Typical of a great episode, though, the characters answered some questions and raised even more, including the very nature of of life (and, well, death).

Let’s start with some categorizing. Who’s dead and who isn’t? Both Penny and Desmond are alive — everyone can breathe easy. Locke is “alive.” (The quotation marks here mean everything.) Despite Ben telling Locke that it was part of his master plan to kill Locke so he could be resurrected, Ben admitted to Sun that Locke walking around alive scares the living daylights out of him. In fact, this episode marks the final shift in the Ben-Locke power struggle, with Locke reigning victorious. Locke now knows things Ben doesn’t, which infuriates our former Jacob-whisperer. Yet, “the Island” has chosen to keep him alive for whatever reason.  On the brink of life/death is Alex, slain daughter of Ben/Rousseau. Alex’s alive-but-not situation evoked a little Christian Shepard, and gives credence to the theory that Olde Smokey (”he who shall not be named”) can reanimate or possess the bodies of the dead for his own purposes (except that the bodies must retain some part of their original person, since they often slip in some unfinished business while they’re up and about).

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 12″ »

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CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS: Can't Lose! Except this one

The micro themes of Friday’s penultimate episode  echoed the macro theme of “Friday Night Lights” itself: rising above. Street, Riggins, Smash, Saracen, the Taylors, Lyla, Tyra … well, pretty much everyone on the show has had to overcome huge mental, physical and/or emotional roadblocks throughout the series, pushing themselves to do their best and be their best.  The realness of the struggles and the occasional failures along the way are all part of what gives “FNL” so much of its emotional resonance.

“The Underdogs” had plenty of such moments, the strongest of which was the evolution of Tyra’s college entrance essay. How many of us struggled to find our real voice when wrangling those awful things? Once you cut through the bull of what Landry described as “a five-paragraph knitted pillow. It’s painful,” there’s often a bright truth to be found. After Tyra stopped making terribly strained metaphors regarding her work at Applebee’s (”Sometimes it gets busy and you have to roll with the punches, just like life”) and harnessed the passion behind her real struggles (her mother, her sister, her lost innocence), she wrote something truly beautiful. And if you didn’t tear up just a little at her “Two Years Ago” speech, you don’t have a heart.  “College represents possibility. The possibility that things are going to change. I can’t wait.” Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!

Speaking of our Dillon Panther’s battle cry, let’s get into this week’s football action.

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In Haruki Murakami’s short story, “Tony Takitani,” the title character experiences discomfort due to his strange, foreign-sounding name (the Tony part). While it’s true that Tony makes a relatively smooth phonetic translation into Japanese, the cultural estrangements of an Asian child of mixed descent are significant, even in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Masato Seto, whose newest series opens tonight alongside Masao Yamamoto at Jackson Fine Art, is a Thai-Japanese photographer who was raised in Japan by both Japanese and Vietnamese parents. As in the story mentioned above, Seto is particularly aware of “small groups on the edges of society.”

More from Jackson Fine Art:

[Masato Seto's] series called Binran girls 2007 – 2008 [was] made in Taiwan at night of girls who sell betel nuts to passers-by in roadside stands open 24 hours. A particular part of Taiwanese and other south Asian cultures, the habit of chewing seeds produces a stimulating effect making the seeds popular with truckers as well as older members of the population who favor the seeds as a pick me up. These strident color photographs, shot at night with ample artificial light, project onto the young female vendeuses airs of loneliness and urban anxiety, though, according to the photographer, the majority of the glass framed stands are located in suburban neighborhoods.

Of course, the human interest angle can only stretch so far … Still skeptical? If so, take a moment to drink in the details on this photo by the show’s other headliner, Masao Yamamoto.

The reception for both artists is tonight, April 3 from 6-8 p.m. Masato Seto returns for a gallery talk and book signing Sat., April 4 at 11 a.m.

For more local arts events, visit clatl.com/events or, check the weekly visual arts To Do Lists at BurnAway.org.

(Photo by Masao Yamamoto/Courtesy Jackson Fine Art)

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YOU CAN LEAVE: But I will shoot you in the leg, dingbat

We’ve definitely returned to (un)necessary flashback/character-driven mode in Lostville these days. Most of us had guessed that Kate gave Aaron to Claire’s mother before heading back to the island, and that she’d been keeping tabs on Clementine Ford as well. Kate-isodes aren’t typically the show’s strongest, but despite a quick surfacing of the “Jate/Skate” relationship quandary, last night’s offering was, on the whole, solid. The best moments may not have included Kate, but credit must be given to Evangeline Lilly’s excellent portrayal of anguish over leaving Aaron behind.

“Whatever Happened, Happened” had a touch of “Grey’s Anatomy” to it, with two doctors battling it out over whether or not to save a young boy who will grow up to be, well, Ben Linus. In an interesting twist, Jack’s refusal to help young Ben turned out (of course) to play right into the realities of Ben becoming a Hostile.  Facing certain death among the Dharmas, young Ben is transported to Hostile territory by Kate and Sawyer, looking for help from our old friend Richard Alpert. Instead of being stitched up and growing up to be the village sandwich-maker, Richard will, er “take his innocence,” and Ben will become a Hostile and remember nothing. Anyone else feel like this was a cop-out? Since meeting young Ben, many speculators have started putting together the pieces of what adult Ben may remember from his Dharma days. Did he love Juliet because he remembered how she tried to save him? Did he make Sayid’s life hell because Sayid had tried to kill him? Would it explain why he had that list of specifically Hurley, Sawyer, Jack and Kate to take hostage in season two?

Continue reading “The Televangelist: ‘Lost’ episode 11″ »

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LYLA GARRITY: Is Eastbound and Down

Last week, I took stock of where this season of “Friday Night Lights” has taken us so far, and where it’s headed. Just as I theorized the End is Nigh, it turns out that it very much isn’t. Yes Panther fans, our beloved show has been renewed (or, is just about to be) for two more seasons, each of which will be aired first on DirecTV before moving over to NBC, a la the current season.

This is a good thing, right?  Your Televangelist is not convinced. The show will need to find fresh life and new direction (which it started building this week, with the potential of new cross-town rivals, but more on that later. Will some of our current Panthers get bused over?). Many of our favorite Dillon denizens are hitting the road (Smash, Street), with more to follow (according to reports, Lyla and Tyra will leave after similar multi-episde send offs). Hey, they have to graduate sometime, right? Except how often is a show about high school successful when everyone we know in the high school, y’know, matriculates?

More promising would be a Mindy and Billy spin-off. Imagine the possibilities for specials! This week we already got a taste of “A Very Collette Wedding,” complete with a classy tea party that included all of  Mindy’s closest friends from the Landing Strip: Sugar, Charm, Kandy … and of course Fashionette! What might the future hold? “A Very Riggins Christmas?”

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