The Paxton Configuration

Secure Immaturity: A Preview, Part 2

2012-02-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here is part two of my four part preview of my recently published book, Secure Immaturity. You can purchase the book here, here, or here. You can also read reviews and get more info on the book on Goodreads. Also, keep in mind that The Paxton Configuration returns in March with an all new format and all new content.

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Street Kings (2008)

I suppose it was one of those times in my life when I was completely lost and had nothing to do. I was kind of at a weird life crossroads and a lot of stuff was out of my control. And instead of contemplating on the inner workings of the universe, I watched Street Kings starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker and Hugh Laurie. But the choice of Street Kings was, in itself, bizarre. Even in my life haze, I considered watching The Deer Hunter, Good Will Hunting or even a fiftieth viewing of Dazed and Confused: for all practical purposes, excellent movies with meaning. But instead I watched Street Kings.

And this confusion made me wonder why and how such a film was made. Filmed in the ‘LA Gang’ universe where every intersection is a war zone and bullets enter the human body and spontaneously combust causing the victim to explode, Street Kings is about stoned faced Keanu Reeves trying to figure out who killed his partner. Sounds noble, right? Well, Keanu’s partner was a horrible human being as is Keanu. The unit Keanu works in is also full of horrible human beings. The IA unit that investigates horrible Keanu and his horrible unit is also horrible. In fact the entire city is horrible. And by the end of Street Kings you have also deduced that the entire cosmos is horrible. Nothing is good.

Anyways, horrible Keanu conducts his investigation that leads him to horrible revelations and even more horrible people. A lot of people die and explode when hit with bullets but justice is served: granted it is served with a massive gun blast of nihilism and a tiny tea spoon of the horrible. Street Kings represents mankind and mankind is horrible. It never ends. This movie was one cussing baby away from pure, unadulterated pessimism. I assume half the viewers of Street Kings went home and offed themselves because their worldview was crushed and their expectations of a happy future were pissed on by the horrible screenwriters and the horrible film makers.

Although Street Kings has made me hate all life on the planet, I actually enjoyed much of the film. Hugh Laurie, for one, decides to take his character of House, a horrible human being, and morph it over to this movie. Except now Hugh Laurie is even more horrible. I expect Hugh Laurie to kick baby kittens in this movie, he is that horrible.

Fresh off an Oscar win and brimming with confidence, Forest Whitaker decides to take his massive frame and 600 pounds and literally consume the scenery. This will go down as his Nicolas Cage performance. Shit, it’s his Marlon Brando performance! Did I mention his character is also a horrible human being.

There are a lot of inspired rapper roles in this movie: you know, roles where they are supposed to cuss a lot, say the ‘n’ word and promote violence. Nothing like their music. I saw names such as Common and The Game. Let me know when Obsequious, O.K., and XBox Live show up because I’m sure they were there.

The most bizarre casting decision was to cast the aforementioned horrible Keanu police unit with completely non terrifying actors. If John Corbett, best known for playing Aidan on Sex and the City, and Jay Mohr, known for, well, let me get back to you, terrify you then Street Kings will be the thing of nightmares for you. But if you are a normal human being, they will simply make you laugh. They are horrible though, just in case you were wondering.

So while I go tie the noose around my neck and picture the planet burned to a crisp because of the worldview Street Kings placed on me, I will say that the only non-horrible thing about the film was the film itself. Go watch it. You might enjoy and then lose yourself in depression, like I did.

Secure Immaturity: A Preview, Part 1

2011-12-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Boys and Goyels (or is it goils. . .or guyls. . .whatever), here is part 1 of 4 of the preview for my recently published book Secure Immaturity: A Nostalgia-Crushing Journey Through Film. I am so very excited about this release as it puts together all of my best internet work from 2008 to 2011 in one volume.

So, if you like what you read below, please click on the link here or here and purchase a copy. As a bonus incentive, if you are the fifth person to Direct Message and/or Tweet me @SecureImmaturT saying you read the preview, I'll give you a 50% off discount on your copy.

So, read, enjoy, and contact me!

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Highlander (1986)

I went to a psychiatrist as a kid (surprised?). As most eight year olds tend to do, I pretty much sat on a couch and tried not to pay attention to the poor psych trying to administer help to me. One day he was trying to explain the idea of self control and power and told me the premise of Highlander. I’m not sure who is to blame here, me for listening and not telling my parents, or him for telling an eight year old such a bizarre story. But when a 35 year old psychiatrist tells you cutting off a dude’s head, having electricity flow through your veins and saying ‘There can be only one’ means you have absolute power in life. . .well, that’s pretty awesome. I asked him if I should watch the film. He laughed and said, ‘I don’t know. . .’

I wonder what the hell that was all about? But the goddamn idea of Highlander has been in my mind ever since. The problem: I never watched the film. I tried numerous times. I just never watched it. For some reason it held a mystique. I felt like, as when I was eight and when I was ten, twelve, eighteen and so on, that I was in on some adult secret. I knew what Highlander meant even without seeing it.

So when I finally popped in Highlander for the first time last night after hearing about it 18 years earlier, I realized that psych had really bad taste in movies. Highlander is a hilarious farce of a film. How it has spawned 97 sequels and various TV shows is beyond me (I never saw any of those either, but when a movie has Mario Van Peebles in it, you kind of ignore it). While the concept is sound, the film is a hilarious, eclectic freak show. Highlander is the bearded lady of movies.

For one, Queen was involved in the soundtrack. Think Prince doing Batman. Yeah. Made your brain hurt, didn’t it? And Highlander functions on all sorts of audio-like levels. For one, the dialogue is absolutely impossible to understand. There are so many accents mixed with mumbling that I had to guess what was going on based on eye movements. Which isn’t easy, since Christopher Lambert, the star of Highlander, has the emotional complexity of this keyboard I type on. The other actors make do with what they have: a script that involves heavy metal immortals running around New York City with swords.

The movie’s idea of immortals is kind of weird too. Apparently being immortal means you can get stabbed, have your throat slit or thrown off buildings and live. Oh and you also are automatically the greatest gymnast of all time: the first immortal Lambert fights can do about seventy back-flips whilst parrying with his 6th century Japanese blade! My thought was you could die like any human but not of old age. But in the Highlander universe you only have to have your head cut off to die.

But if I was walking around with my own personal soundtrack and it was Queen singing ‘New York, New York’, I’d probably cut my own head off, fuck the Quickening. I’d be the unluckiest immortal alive. At least Chris Lambert is good looking and slays a few ladies. I’d be single for four centuries . . . Jesus that’s depressing. But I’d also lose all cultural identity which might, actually, be fun. Christopher Lambert is a French actor with a French accent playing a Scotsman. Sean Connery, a Scotsman, is playing an Egyptian from Spain. What? If I were immortal and I came from the Highlander universe I’d probably look Korean, speak with a German accent and come from Uganda.

I can’t really say I enjoyed the film or even paid attention to it during its running time. The entire time, whilst deciphering the fourteen languages and accents on display throughout the film, I was thinking about that poor doctor, telling some other kids to watch Highlander. I imagine in this day and age, that doctor is probably responsible for said kid growing up, wielding a sword with a shaved head (minus rat tail) and going ape shit at school. There is probably some kind of Highlander clause in doctor’s offices now to prevent people from recommending that film. But I waited 18 years to take my psych’s advice and NOW I really need the therapy.

Hiatus

2011-12-13T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

It looks like I have to put The Paxton Configuration on a minor hiatus. A number of things are happening that made me have to cut out some of my extra-curricular activities.

1. My first book, Secure Immaturity: A Nostalgia-Crushing Journey Through Film will be for sale very soon. I'd like to devote some time to my Amazon website and in advertising promotion for that. My last post before the hiatus will be for links and excerpts from the book.

2. I am also working on a book project with BacktoFrankBlack.com and Fourth Horseman Press. The link to the book (still in it's pre-published stages) will also be presented here once it is published. It is looking like a 2012 date. Here is some more info. And here is a little more.

3. I have begun the preliminary stages of my second book. Unlike Secure Immaturity, which was a gathering of work from 2007-2011, this will be a 'start from scratch' book. I won't reveal too much at this time but it does involve watching close to 100 films and will contain biographical elements and lots of a particular sport.

4. I have just started working on a new website and I am trying to get in the groove of creating articles and columns that would appear regularly. I want to focus on that for a bit of time just to work out the kinks. Once I am done with the above three things and this fourth thing, I should be back into a normal groove and get The Paxton Configuration back as my main focus.

Thanks for understanding. Almost 10,000 folks have come and visited the site and for that I appreciate it greatly. There will be more Paxton Configuration in the future. It's just time to take a break!

Will

1990: The Bronx Warriors

2011-11-08T19:48:00.000-08:00

It seems odd but I guarantee you that every Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan finds a couple of movies Joel/Mike and the 'Bots beat up at was kind of fun. . .maybe even good! To me, I always had a soft spot for the Clu Gulagher TV pilot San Francisco International. But my favorite 'bad' MST3K movie had to be Escape 2000, the American title for what really is Escape from the Bronx.

The micro-budgeted film, released in 1983, certainly has its problems. Despite a pretty neat film score and a few striking visuals, the film ends up becoming one long bloodbath and any sense of story goes out the window. The beauty of the film is what director Enzo. G Castellari tried to do and while he might have failed at points, there was some idea in Escape from the Bronx that worked for me.

But what I didn't know, until much later, after the MST3K cut was shown in 1996, was that not only did Escape from the Bronx have an unrated Director's Cut (MST3K cut out a looooooooot in their version) but that Escape from the Bronx was also a sequel to a likely-Warriors rip-off called 1990: The Bronx Warriors.

So when I finally sat down to watch 1990: The Bronx Warriors last week, I was shocked to find myself enjoying a well crafted (if not poorly acted) and thoroughly interesting film, clearly made on a higher budget. Whereas Escape from the Bronx had to limit its use of location shooting in New York, Castellari, who also directed this film, utilizes the city constantly. Hardly a produced set is seen and one feels the atmosphere of an no-man's land due to the constant location shooting and grim production design (if it was even dressed up).

Now don't get me wrong, 1990: The Bronx Warriors has some kooky things going on and doesn't exactly hire the greatest actors in the world, but there is something infectious about something so unashamedly ultra-violent and wacky.

I do have to say, however, that I have never seen The Warriors so perhaps 1990 is a massive rip-off of that film and all that I find cute and wonderful about 1990 is just low budget rehash but even so, I saw this first and I loved it. I'm not corrupted by other viewpoints.

1990: The Bronx Warriors stands on its own. It certainly dates itself by making it the 'future' (of 1990) and maximizing the trends of '70s/'80s cinema (the film was released in 1982), such as Hell's Angels bikers, roller skates, and bright face makeup. But Castellari was no slouch director, providing vivid landscapes and a neat, if underdeveloped, mythology.

In the film world, the Bronx has become a land run by gangs while Manhattan remains isolated and mostly affluent. The Bronx is split up into territories with the major gangs being the Riders, led by Trash, our hero, and the Tigers, whose leader is the charismatic and bad mother Ogre. Intermixed are gangs too small to compete but individual enough to claim their own territory.

A Manhattan girl named Anne escapes to live with the Riders and becomes Trash's girl but soon, as gang war increases, Trash learns that Anne is the next heir to the mega-company The Manhattan Corporation. The MC uses a dirty cop, and former Bronx gang-native, named Hammer, to infiltrate the gangs, make them kill each other, and bring Anne back. As you'd expect, the Riders don't like this idea and Trash, traveling through the Gauntlet of gang territories, seeks a union with the Tigers to kill Hammer and protect Anne.

In terms of casting, Castellari had something going when he hired seventeen year old Mark Gregory as our hero Trash. While Gregory has the range of a pile of mahogany wood, he has a unique voice, a very unfamiliar build (ripped and wiry), and a wonderful face, managing to be both baby-faced yet aged in one glance.

He certainly has a presence and, given some coaching, he'd be a movie star. And it isn't like 1990 is a demanding picture. If he was to be charismatic or three dimensional, then Gregory failed. But if he was to be likable and a hero someone can root for from beginning to end, he succeeded. It is hard not to like Trash.

Other actors fill in the roles with various success. I found myself absolutely smitten with Stefania Girolami who played Anne and happens to be Castellari's daughter. She is so epically beautiful that it hurts to think about her sometimes. But either due to poor dubbing (the film is originally Italian) or to being just as wooden as Gregory, Anne comes off as a bit stiff.

Veterans take on some of the other roles. Hammer is played by Vic Morrow, the actor who would, just a year later, die in a helicopter accident on the set of The Twilight Zone Movie. He is so ridiculously evil that you wish for his ouster. You know it is coming and the expectation is met in a big way.

The Ogre is played by Fred 'Shaft' Williamson. Naturally, he is just so damn cool that it is easy to forget he sits on thrones made of tiger skins and wears really outlandish purple shirts. And The Ogre's lady, or right hand woman, or whatever she is, named Witch, is played by one-time actress (this was her only film) Betty Dessy. She also made me feel funny inside.

Much like Escape from the Bronx after it, 1990 has some really neat major and minor characters that help pad the scenery. Trash's Iago-like lieutenant Ice is played with smarmy charm by real-life doctor Joshua Sinclair. And a brief appearance, in both films, by beauty Carla Brait, is memorable as is the gang she leads.

The best part about 1990: The Bronx Warriors is that Escape from the Bronx actually makes some sense now and characters/scenes/discussions don't seem out of nowhere and completely insane. But Escape failed to capture the cheesy essence of 1990's gangs, instead compiling them together, with no backstory, as one large group. In the end, while Escape has some great, memorable characters, both large and small, the uniqueness of each gang was lost.

Is 1990: The Bronx Warriors a perfect movie? No. I don't expect you to watch it and find it to be a masterpiece. But it has a lot to be appreciated be it some excellent visual work by the director, some great location work, excellent fight scenes, and the inevitably dated moments that add to the film's charm.

And the film speeds by so fast that the movie is over before you know it. I actually watched the uncut Escape from the Bronx right after and doubled my fun (SPOILER: for those who love 'Toblerone' from the MST3K version. . .he gets killed in the uncut version!!!!). Just take off the thinking cap and enjoy some good old fun. That's as deep as 1990: The Bronx Warriors gets and that's all you need.

*sadly I found this video when I typed in 1990: The Bronx Warriors and upon viewing this cool scene, all these videos saying movies predicted 9/11 came up. I didn't view this entire video but any views about 9/11 spoken by these 'likely' conspiracy theorists is not mine. So if anyone is offended or this video contains something (and I will watch it eventually) please let me know.

The Larry Sanders Show

2011-10-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Even when something goes past your head at a young age, something inevitably sticks with you inside your psyche and demands attention at a later date. As a ten year old growing up in Tampa, Florida, the Larry Sanders Show was so beyond me that whenever I saw clips of it (due to my parent's weekly viewing), I was normally confused and/or bored.

But very few shows out there can specifically date themselves chronologically but remain as timeless as ever. The Larry Sanders Show is one of these few shows. A show wholeheartedly dedicated to a saga of television history long gone from today's airwaves and, at times, loaded with issues, plots, and even guest stars that today's youth or even grown ups would have trouble remembering.

Yet it perseveres, because instead of being a vessel of out-dated charm, admired more for what it accomplished and started as opposed to its quality at face value in the current day, The Larry Sanders Show almost stands as a historical document, using history as a bonus, not a crutch.

Those who remember the days of Johnny Carson will especially love this show but those who grew up with the likes of Sharon Stone gracing your screen as a megastar once or twice a year or who saw great actors of a generation just get their start, like Jim Carrey or Greg Kinnear, or who saw Ellen when she was 'straight', and saw comedians go off of wit and intelligence and not vulgarity, like Steven Wright, or who saw fading or atypical stars, with more talent then the present day manufactured ones, make their last graceful showings, as in the case of Bruno Kirby, Brett Butler, Ileana Douglas, Gina Gershon, and John Ritter, or make incredible comebacks or bombastic introductions, like Jeff Goldblum and David Duchovny, or who, at a young age, could already make fun of themselves and their careers, like Noah Wyle and Mandy Patinkin, then this is the show for them.

The Larry Sanders Show started during a unique period in television history, when Carson was just gone and Leno and Letterman were fighting for respect and upstarts Arsenio and Conan were making a name for themselves. Centered around a fictional talk show called 'The Larry Sanders Show', hosted by Larry Sanders who was joined by Ed McMahon-esque Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor), and produced by talk show legend Artie (Rip Torn, in an Emmy winning role), the show functioned kind of as an alternate universe, in which some time was spent on the actual talk show and real celebrities guest starred as themselves and became. . .quirky. . .but also existed as a pseudo-satire, minor-drama, hilarious 'sitcom' that depicted the behind the scenes folks and how their lives, surrounded by varying levels of fame, arrogance, and ego, often changed, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad.

The cast was first rate, starting with the regulars who lasted all six years: Shandling as Larry Sanders, who, as a former guest host for Carson and who has an intelligent and rather thoughtful approach to comedy, took the idea of personal image and self obsession to new levels. Jeffrey Tambor, as Hank Kingsley, was the '90s Frank Burns: hilariously funny even when you wanted to stab your eyes out from the painful antics.

Penny Johnson, also known to geeks as Kasidy Yates from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, is one of the unsung heroes as Larry's personal assistant Beverly, a woman prone to kindness even under the most vanity filled sessions of abuse. Wallace Langham as almost psychotic, always abusive head writer Phil.

Early departing cast members included Janeane Garofalo as booker turned producer Paula, who made the self-hating emo seem cool before it became annoying. Linda Doucett, the buxom blond who, as a friend of mine would say, could give you diabetes with such sweetness. A young Jeremy Piven appears as writer Jerry, a loose cannon madman just trying to write jokes with then-assistant Phil.

Late additions include Hank's second assistant Brian, played by Scott Thompson (of Kids in the Hall fame), a gay man with an immense fashion sense and the ability to control the asylum that is the office. Mary Lynn Rajskub joined the cast in the fifth season as the cute, delightfully dopey booker Mary Lou, while Bob Odenkirk made the sporadic appearance as Larry's hostile agent Stevie Grant.

Early pre-fame appearances by Sarah Silverman and Jon Stewart (as an unexpected, even to him, villain) make appearances as well and coupled with the hundreds of celebrity cameos, which reign from royalty (like Warren Beatty and Sally Field) to the obscure, the show was blessed with talent to the moon on a weekly basis.

The greatest element, besides the acting, is the dedication to detail and the surprising emotional depth provided to the show. Come the series finale, the sentimental but buttoned-up Larry, who echoes the real life Garry Shandling, but with less of a neurotic streak, is reduced to tears, and so are you despite the fact that, at times, Larry can be a prick. But really, who isn't from time to time?

Perpetually robbed by the Emmy Awards until its last season (and even then not getting much), getting only three wins from its 54 total nominations, getting shut out four of the six years, the show has become almost legendary amongst comedians, talk show hosts, and audiences that appreciate the oxymoronic type of show that is a timeless blast from the past.

Netflix, which thankfully provides all six seasons streaming, has the show listed as 'understated' and often you'll simply be smiling and not laughing. But Shandling is much like that with his solo-act: he makes you think and creates the mental double take. A master of eye movements and glances, Shandling is a sly creature, making you laugh in places you least expect it or, in some cases, where it is humanely right that you don't!

Besides the tear jerking finale, some of the highlights for me include Carol Burnett's first appearance, which involves spiders (just watch it), the time when Chicago Hope star Mandy Patinkin and ER star Noah Wyle fight over whose show is better, when David Duchovny leads Larry and the audience on a quest for his sexuality, when Tom Petty, Greg Kinnear, and Clint Black get in a fist fight, and when Melrose Place star Laura Leighton and Larry himself can't mutually get turned on unless they are watching themselves on TV.

The fun is not limited to just these occurrences. There are 89 total episodes and I can say, with all the faith in the world, that none of them are boring or unfunny and all have repeat value. In fact, just writing about the show, and tweeting my praise to Shandling himself (who answered back! What a nice guy), makes me want to go for a second viewing.

I know I probably didn't explain enough of what it was about and just kissed its ass for a bunch of paragraphs but I promise you, if you sit down and watch this show, you simply won't stop. It's that good. When you do turn it on, no flipping. Genius can't be stopped.

New Releases: Moneyball (2011)

2011-10-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

It is pretty fitting we just recently saw what was perhaps the greatest night in modern MLB history a few nights ago because Moneyball, the film, directed by Bennett Miller, based on the book, written by Michael Lewis, that depicted the revolution of baseball, was in full effect that glorious night.

For those who don't know, four teams played for their playoff lives the night of September 28th, and three of them fought to the very end, all with different results. But all to the enjoyment of the sports fan world, even those who don't follow baseball.

In the end, the lowly Orioles, with a budget of $85 million, 15 levels below their opponent, the Red Sox, came from behind to finish off the Red Sox 4-3, despite being behind the entire game. The 90 win, but still 2nd/3rd in the AL East Tampa Bay Rays, with the second lowest budget in baseball went up against the juggernaut of money spending that is the New York Yankees ($202 million to Tampa's $41) and won 8-7 in 12 innings, after being down 7-0.

With the Red Sox loss and the Rays win, the Red Sox, an early favorite to go all the way, was bounced from the playoffs (with 90 wins, mind you. . .not too shabby) and the Rays, putting well over a hundred million dollars less into its roster, moved on to face the Texas Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.

And while money did serve its purpose for the Yankees (they won their division handily), money couldn't save the Red Sox, who lost when it really mattered, and the lucrative contracts of so-called 'star' players, like ex-Ray Carl Crawford, who, naturally, abandoned the Rays for more money, came up way short in crunch time.

In the end, skill and team chemistry meant more then throwing money at a problem and hoping it works. For the second year in a row, despite the salary boom over division rival Tampa, Boston missed the playoffs for the second straight year while, surprise surprise, Tampa once again found themselves in the hunt for the second consecutive year.

Without Moneyball, the Rays last four years of existence wouldn't be possible. A tremendously awful team who averaged close to 100 losses a year for it's first nine seasons, smart ownership and smart, Moneyball tactics bought Tampa Bay real PLAYERS. Not STAR players, but players who could play. And since 2008, the Rays, placed in a division with the Yankees and the Red Sox, have won two division titles, beaten the Red Sox in the playoffs, made the playoffs three out of four times, and been to the World Series.

Moneyball, the movie (and, of course, the book), depicts what started it all: the use of sabermetrics, advanced statistics, mathematical algorithms, and a change in clubhouse philosophy, to grind out wins (not simply buy them, though, in fact, there is an equation for how much a team spends per win).

The book, written by Michael Lewis, goes into a lot more detail on the technical side as the book has very little dramatic value. At best, it is a history book with impressive results and fascinating insights. The movie remains faithful to the book's look at the effects it had on baseball on a whole, and adds necessary dramatic license to spice things up.

There aren't too many complaints about the film but of the few I've read the complaint seems to be that the film breezes through the complex concepts Lewis brings up in his book and focuses on making things more exciting.

And I will grant that the film is manipulative. For example, I saw the Oakland A's as described in this story (the film focuses on GM Billy Beane and his unorthodox attempt to make the low-budgeted and starless Oakland A's winners by evaluating talent differently through the previously mentioned stat hunting) and watched them, live, as they tore apart the all-time MLB winning streak. Then, I was in awe. But during my viewing of the film, I was in tears.

So yes, you can see some liberties being taken. But to me, these are NECESSARY changes. Because the film actually does focus on how sabermetrics work but doesn't make the film just about numbers. Frankly, you can get away with math in a book because the people reading it likely WANT to read it. But place it on a movie screen and expect people to 'feel good' about adding and dividing. . .I don't think so.

So the dramatic angles are needed and, frankly, wanted. But, even with a 'story' surrounding the core concepts of the book, the wrong actor could have made this a boring affair (which, also I've read, many people think Moneyball is anyways). Brad Pitt, who shockingly is NOT a box office attraction (he has a number of high grossing films to his credit but he is either the secondary-star or the major successes have occurred relatively recently) brings his actorly qualities to the proceedings (people forget that Brad Pitt is a two-time Oscar nominee) and adds a little George Clooney to the flick by providing an epic charisma that, frankly, he hasn't displayed too often.

While Pitt has always been a better actor then Clooney, Clooney was able to command those Ocean films and make Pitt a co-star because he had the stigma that he owned the room. Pitt borrows that from Clooney and completely commands Moneyball. Besides being, well, Brad Pitt, the love of all ladies, Pitt just wants you to believe in his character and completely embodies Billy Beane.

This may not be as complex a performance as 12 Monkeys, Kalifornia, Fight Club, or Benjamin Button, but it is the most convincing and chameleon like I've seen from the actor. If he wins the Oscar for this, and I think he will (there is a Sandra Bullock-The Blind Side quality to his performance and the momentum in the press that makes it seem like a certainty), I wouldn't be upset. Has he ACTED better? Yes. But has he commanded the screen better and completely enveloped a role better? No. To me, these are two different, but very important things that aren't necessarily mutually exclusive but CAN, if separated, derail a film.

*note: I make this argument for Russell Crowe's Oscar winning performance in Gladiator. Was it Crowe's most complex role? No. But it is most certainly the most commanding role Crowe has ever done, completely winning over the audience and demanding almost three complete hours of your attention. The same could be said for Tom Hank's Oscar nominated performance in Cast Away.

Praise also has to go to Jonah Hill who I never thought could be serious enough to act with an A-Lister like Pitt. But his chemistry with him is incredible and entirely believable (and, to be honest, Hill doesn't have to stretch too much here. He is still funny but manages to be funny without being so caustic and severe).

The casting department does a wonderful job of populating the Oakland A's scouts, coaching staff, and players with mostly no-names though, at times, you look at the actors playing a true historical figure, Carlos Pena for example, and you go 'that is supposed to be Carlos Pena?'

I wouldn't say the film is only worth seeing because of Pitt because, on it's own, the elements of storytelling, acting, editing, directing, etc all seem to make sense and flow very well. But I can't imagine this movie WITHOUT Pitt so I can say that without his performance, the film would, indeed, be lost.

If you want to see a vague look at history but also be enraptured in a true tour de force performance and don't mind shedding a few tears, then go watch Moneyball. Pitt alone is worth the price of admission.

Geek Lineage #2: Monstervision

2011-09-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

The Geek Years are 1995 to 2000

Before TNT was known for just the NBA, reruns of ER, and 900 hours of The Closer, it was a pretty mucho cool station, especially during my coming of age years in the mid to late '90s. Besides picking up Babylon 5 for its fifth season (though giving it about $4 a show in budget), TNT produced Monstervision (and companion show Joe Bob's Last Call) and brought Joe Bob Briggs into my life.

It is pretty safe to say that I am a geek. But not one of those socially adept, lots-of-friends geeks. I was more the stay-at-home-with-my-parents-on-the-weekend geeks. While this did wonders for my personal growth, as I read loads of books, drew my own comics, watched hilarious and thoughtful shows/movies, and wrote novels, it stunted my emotional growth with men, women, animals, and vegetables.

To say I was a late bloomer would be putting it mildly. And there is nothing wrong with that. I just felt more comfortable at home (at least until my senior year of high school where I discovered that women have these things called boobs and I liked touching them and got myself a girlfriend!). And Friday nights (if memory serves) were planned every week for entire years: Monstervision.

So, you ask, am I blaming Joe Bob Briggs for my introverted nature? Well, yes. But in a good way. Because, coupled with my first geek love of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Joe Bob introduced me to the arts. They were pretty cheesy, awful, and poorly budgeted arts, but they were arts all the same. And, I can only praise Joe Bob for helping me not take life so seriously.

High school is not a comfortable thing, no matter where you are in the social strata. Your body goes through changes and your mind perceives things as dark and foreboding when, in reality, they are unimportant and, if truly troublesome, only temporary. In a teenage deluge, nothing picked me up more then watching Joe Bob talk about cinematic treasures like The Howling III.

I remember my weekend nights vividly because they brought such joy. Joe Bob was a constant, consistent presence in a world that was always changing. Plus, it was something I could share with my friends that my parents just didn't get. I remember one long night I was watching the 'Vision with my mom and my friend Tony. My mom, sitting in her chair trying to read, was secretly watching the presentation of Deadly Friend with disgust.

When a character's head is destroyed by a basketball, my mom asked, with vitriol, 'what is this?' That was the essence of Monstervision for me and what it meant to me: 'what is this?' Only I, and a select few, could know, or understand.

Because what does it mean to a person, and how does it effect them, to sit and watch, for the most part, bad movies. . .on purpose!? For the most part, it shows passion. Some people might have directed, say, Replikator for cash, but the person who produced/directed/wrote/starred in Ice Cream Man probably did it for passion. Did s/he do a good job? Probably not. But someone had to LOVE what they were doing to keep on keepin' on.

This rubs off on a young viewer. Because not every idea is gold and not everything gold is love/passion. There is a difference between something that fails with pride and something that succeeds without passion. And, besides, for every Ghoulies II or House 4 on Monstervision, there was something that influenced me before or later, like Clive Barker's Nightbreed, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, or Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

But the host himself, Joe Bob Briggs, inspired a lot of passion and creativity in me as well. Like myself, Joe Bob willingly sat in front of these movies and offered commentary. But he did it with funny witticisms, interesting barbs and cracks, and, much to my delight, offered trivia on parties and the franchise that not many are familiar with. Joe Bob's breakdowns of a certain franchise's history, before and after the movie shown, was always a joy as well.

Monstervision didn't last long enough. But for five years it ruled my weekends and helped define me as a connoisseur of awful and forgotten things and a collector of fine wit and irony. I miss it immensely but it still remains locked in my subconscious, always there to help form me as the person I am, both as a memory and through creativity.

And, thanks to YouTube, as you'll see below, the Monstervision cult can live on. Below is a FULL episode of Monstervision! The episode in question is Ghoulies. Thanks for everything Joe Bob!

*for Law and Order fans, look out for Mariska Hargitay in a brief role in the film.

Soon to Be Forgotten in Time: The Damned United (2009)

2011-09-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

Even though soccer (or football, depending on where you're at) is the 'world's game', movies about it are not only few and far between but also damn near lost to society. It is pretty telling that the most prescient soccer film in the US that I can remember being popular when I was a kid was Ladybugs with Rodney Dangerfield.

Little gems like Victory (starring Michael Caine, Sly Stallone, and Pele!) and Bend It Like Beckham have made an impact, both comically or seriously, but the soccer movie is a dead-on-arrival genre, guaranteed to flop and be watched only by fanatics. . .if the producers are lucky.

The Damned United was to be The Queen of sports movies, taking real life events (and even using the device of real footage interspersed between recreated scenes by actors) and putting a dramatic story behind it, emphasizing the drama with the real occurrences playing as background material. And while The Damned United has one of The Queen's break out stars, takes place in the same country, and uses the gravitas and storytelling device of that critically and financially successful film, TDU made just over $1 million dollars worldwide on a budget of only $10.

The movie is, of course, a tough sell in America. It is a 'true' story (though many facts from the film and the source material it is based on, a book of the same name, has been legally fought and oft-discussed) about a sport no one really likes here and a manager no one in that country has probably ever heard of. And it focuses on deep history of the game so only historians or knowledgeable fans will even know any of the 'names' or teams being discussed.

While Brian Clough is a legend in England, most people sitting down to watch The Damned United in America have probably never heard of him. And familiar names like Manchester United or Liverpool are there only in passing. Americans have to be prepared for Derby County and Leeds United as their substitutes for heroes and villains.

This might explain the United States lack of interest but what of England where the film actually made roughly the same amount of cash! And it isn't like this is some raw independent film made on the cheap with nobodies. This stars a current respected star in Michael Sheen (he plays Clough and starred as Tony Blair in The Queen and sixty other films as well as real life figure David Frost in Frost/Nixon) as well as Oscar winner Jim Broadbent, prolific actor Colm Meany, and busybody Timothy Spall.

And the film is a technical marvel with lush production design to depict England in the 1970s and unique camera angles and fluctuating film stock to mess with the chronology and look of the film. And, last but not least, it doesn't rely on any type of typical sports cliches or storytelling to drive the story home. Once again, it is about people, not sports.

And the story, whether completely true or not, is very interesting. Brian Clough was a manager on the rise, taking lowly Derby County from the bottom of the second division to the championship of that and the first division in two years, at the expense of Leeds United, the perennial champions led by legendary (and well-loved) manager Don Revie (Meany).

Clough, while certainly outspoken and often pompous, arrogant, rude, or some combination of the three, doesn't drive his team to win because he wants to win. It's simply because Revie is a hometown rival who, once visiting with Leeds at Derby during it's lowest point, refused, either by ignorance or by choice, to shake Clough's hand or acknowledge his existence.

As years go by and Clough's obsession with simply destroying Revie takes its toll on Derby's upper management and Clough's closest friend and assistant, Peter Taylor (Spall), he is sacked by Derby and jobless. Then, a twist of fate. Don Revie takes over the England national team and Clough's biggest rivals and most hated enemy, Leeds United, ask him to manage.

And to say all hell breaks loose would be an understatement. Now not simply going head to head with Revie but trying to replace him, Clough realizes he may be in way over his head at a team that doesn't put up with failure or a personality that is simply not Revie's.

The film is driven by Sheen's relentless energy, depicting Clough to the 'T' and managing to show his soft and hard side. It isn't easy liking Clough in the movie but the film decides to not choose between Clough and Revie, the two combatants. Instead, at least to those not entirely familiar to England soccer history, we are given both good and bad arguments for both sides and the results come as a surprise.

Do you hate Revie or hate Clough? Do you despise what Leeds stands for or do you hate what Clough tries to do to them as a way of change? Do you think Derby's board of directors are out of touch or right on the money? Is Clough too mean to Taylor or does their relationship just work? Are the Leeds players dicks or just good at what they do? All this and more is asked in a movie you'd think would be about scoring goals and seeing good beat evil.

But the emotional ambiguity (only threatened by a very pro-Clough, anti-Revie montage at film's end) lends to the drama and makes for intense viewing. For the first time in a sports film, the results on the field don't matter. How the characters conduct themselves and advance in life is the true sport to be watched instead.

But alas, no one did or probably will watch this. And it is a shame because it is the perfect film: high drama, excellent set-up, marvelous technical work, great music, and, for better or worse, 'true' history at play. At worst you learn something. At best, you have a great time, wondering 'why didn't I watch this sooner'.

Law and Order Criminal Intent Episode Guide: 'One'

2011-08-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

Season 1, Episode 1

'One'

Airdate: September 30th, 2001

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*just a note before we begin. First, this is a preview for a second Blogger website I'll be setting up focusing on Criminal Intent. Second, I will be cutting and pasting the general summaries for the episode from imdb.com. I think recapping episodes, especially after someone has watched them, can be a drag. So I like to cut to the chase. If you haven't seen this episode or don't want to be spoiled about what happens if you DO want to watch it, then turn away. Otherwise, read on. I will be writing as if the reader has seen the episode.

Summary: When a multi-million dollar diamond heist leaves two murdered victims in its wake -- along with the body of one of the slain robbers -- curious Detectives Goren and Eames chase down blind alleys, unaware that their quarry is a cold-blooded and manipulative master criminal. Eventually, the cops suspect that their killer has imposed his girlfriend on his gang and ponder if the murderous thieves have a mob connection that would permit them to quickly cash in on such a large haul of stones.

Analysis: Acting as if 9/11 hadn't happened just mere weeks before the airing, Law and Order Criminal Intent instantly differentiates itself from the, at the time, other two incarnations by cutting right to the chase and showing the crime as it happens. In fact, we don't meet our heroes, Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Katheryn Erbe) until after the opening credits sequence.

Seeing the criminals at work is a striking, and somewhat disturbing, change from previous Law and Order shows. While the themes may be conceived as lighter then that of, say, major sex crimes, as depicted on SVU, and, perhaps, less socially relevant, like the early years of the 'mothership' program that started it all, the scale of the crime presented in 'One', and most of the subsequent episodes in the ten year run, is increased: more victims, bigger robberies, etc. In a sense, crimes stacked on top of crimes.

Also important (at least for the most part): less passion. The crimes are premeditated and while perhaps emotionally motivated (or emotion itself is how the crimes come undone), the intent truly is criminal. Hence the title. Thus we know 'who did it', eliminating the 'whodunnit' plot device familiar to fans of L&O and SVU. We now need to to know WHY, not HOW.

This departure from the previous shows is why I feel the show is the best of any of the incarnations. Despite the less passionate nature of many of the crimes (though this would, of course, change) we get to understand the actual characters in the show better. Law and Order is known for getting down to business and if anything is gleaned from its characters then it's simply a bonus. While we may not be introduced to Goren's home life right away, 'One' starts off by depicting one of its main characters as emotionally vulnerable and driven by instincts, not the book.

When we first meet Goren and Eames, Eames is the first to speak, dictating orders to officers at the scene and demanding answers. While this shows that Eames is not just a pretty face but an authority figure, it instantly sets up the opposite personalities that the Criminal Intent partners have. Eames is instantly identified as the 'straight man', while Goren, as we'll discover quickly, is a bit eccentric.

Goren immediately gives his word to one of the victim's parents that he will find the killer(s). This is a heady promise, as Eames would point out just moments later, considering they have no suspects and two of the victims were just at the wrong place at the wrong time, hence no connection to the robbers.

This while scene exists, to me, not only to show how different Goren is from Eames, but to show Goren has a weakness. It is considered brave in other shows to guarantee an outcome and deliver. But most characters don't have a three dimensional sense of self: in other words, self esteem isn't a problem. Most heroes are over-confident and don't have many flaws. Goren, on the other hand, dedicates himself to his work, obsessively so, to the point where he promises what he WANTS, not necessarily what he can do. Well, within reason. Goren, as we'll discover, happens to be a frickin' genius.

As I mentioned before, Eames challenges Goren when she says, "It's a nice thought but how can you make a promise like that"? Goren says the result of the work is not for rocks (in this case, slang for diamonds). This further proves the point that Goren's motives are purely emotional, not material or for occupational reward. Noble, but flawed. And vulnerable too, something the detectives in other Law and Orders, and other cop shows in general, lack in large quantities.

Also interesting in this introduction of the characters is that, unlike the other Law and Order shows, Goren and Eames aren't exactly the best fit for each other. Eames is comfortable enough with Goren but they certainly aren't friends. Their interactions pass for acquainted work partners who tolerate each other (though Eames has some patience issues in this episode).

As the case progresses, it is established that Major Case works off of profiling techniques rather then putting together pieces of a puzzle. Goren and Eames still pound the pavement to numerous places but solving major cases involves cracking codes, determining habits, and figuring out what is professional and what is emotional. In other words, homicide or rape 'puzzles' all have pieces. In Major Case, some of the pieces for their puzzles don't exist.

The eccentricity of Goren is further exposed here, as is some fleshing out of Eames' character, by looking at the sources each uses to get information. Eames

Lastly, in regards to Goren, we see that D'Onofrio already has a firm grasp of how he wants the character to act. He's already got the iconic head bobs and leans in and during one scene with Captain Deakins (Jamey Sheridan), Goren is nervous and all over the place, fidgeting with the best of the 'weirdos'.

I'm going to touch on A.D.A. Carver (Courtney B. Vance) in another episode guide as he is perhaps one of the most misunderstood characters in the entire Law and Order franchise. But I wrote too many notes for that to insert here without going on and on. Plus, Carver, along with Deakins, are only in the episode for a short time.

Crossover: Interim D.A. Nora Lewin, played by Dianne Wiest, shows up towards the end of the episode. Her main show was Law and Order.

Goren and Eames Play Dress Up: Goren dresses up as a no-nonsense shop owner who heckles perp Jake over the price of a laminater. Eames does not dress up.

Goren Nemesis Ranking: The main villain in this episode is played by Jake Weber and is named Karl Atwood. He is a professional burglar and murderer. Goren never gets a crack at him in the interrogation room but Atwood does a good job forcing Goren and Eames off his trail. But Atwood was too on edge to be effective. Once he killed, he was done. His biggest weakness was his girlfriend and Goren broke her down easily. Atwood, a master of disguise, was a minor challenge. 2/10

Sci-Fi Power Rankings #1: TNG

2011-08-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

As a sportswriter immersed in sports journalism, Power Rankings are a common occurrence. Preseason, regular season, playoffs, weekly, monthly, etc. rankings exist on almost every website. It seems there is always a way to rank players and teams. So, why not transfer this to the Sci-Fi world?

Each Sci-Fi Power Rankings will examine the regulars (or specially considered semi-regulars with a massive episode count) of a genre television series and rank them based on various criteria. Enjoy.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation

How the Rankings work for the crew of the NCC-1701-D: Record indicates the number of episodes, both won and lost, that centered around the character. Majors are crew-specific episodes that impacted the series as a whole. Ensemble Record is based out of 10 and the number assigned refers to how many episodes, on average every ten episodes, does that character contribute effectively in the 'ensemble' episodes or as support in other crew-centric episodes.

#1 Jean Luc Picard (13-3, 7 Majors; Ensemble: 10 out of 10)

Though the Captain got off to a rough 0-2 start, the English-Frenchman pulled off 13 straight victories before a seventh season misstep with 'Bloodlines'. Befitting the main role of a television series, Picard pulled off seven major victories with such classics as 'Measure of a Man' (shared with Data), 'The Inner Light', and the 'Chain of Command' two-parter. And his ensemble ranking, boosted heavily by massive turns in such ensemble fare as 'Best of Both Worlds Part I' and 'Family' made him the clear-cut #1 pick. Even in TNG's worst moments, you could rely on Picard to deliver something of quality.

#2 Worf (8-4, 3 Majors; Ensemble: 9 out of 10)

Good enough to endure on a second series after the show ended, Worf was second in Major victories and boasted a solid 8-4 record, starting off an impressive 6-1 before stumbling to a disappointing 2-3 in the final two seasons ('Homeward' a particularly mediocre entry and Season Six's 'Rightful Heir' a surprisingly misfire). His role in 'Sins of the Father', 'Reunion', and 'Redemption', all three Major victories, helped defined TNG, and his Ensemble score of 9, hurt only by his lack of use in Season 1, helped propel him to the #2 spot.

#3 William Riker (9-3, 0 Majors; Ensemble: 10 out of 10)

The greatest officer to never win a major, Riker still cemented his place as not only the show's best ensemble character, adding something to anything he starred in, but had an impressive .750 winning percentage. And Riker got his losses out early with failures like 'Hide and Q', 'Angel One', and 'Shades of Gray' coming before the emergence of Season 3. His post Season three 7-0 record is astonishing as Riker never missed a beat and delivered at all opportunities. His lack of a marquee defining episode is the only reason why this TNG-champion at heart is in third place.

#4 Data (9-6, 2 Majors; Ensemble: 6 out of 10)

It took Data awhile to get out of the gate, despite winning a shared-major (with Picard) in season 2. His pre-season three efforts might have been lacking or mediocre at best (2-2 record) but Data cemented himself a popular character regardless. He started out Season 3 like a champ with two amazing victories out of the gate ('The Ensigns of Command' and 'The Offspring') but then faltered to a 4-5 record through the remaining years (ending his career as a lead with the dreadful 'Masks'). Due to Data's limited range in emotions, his Ensemble rating is low BUT Data proved so popular and vigilant that he clearly deserves the #4 spot.

#5 Geordi La Forge (7-2 record, 0 Majors; Ensemble: 7 out of 10)

Geordi didn't get one episode to call his own until Season 3 and while he didn't have much opportunity to shine, he never seemed to fail when he did. With the goofy 'Aquiel' and the surprisingly bad 'Relics' hurting his nearly flawless record, Geordi was perhaps the most used Ensemble character. But even then he couldn't offer too much without it being too technical. Without a major victory or really any episode of consequence to the series, Geordi was a highly paid ancillary part but not surplus to requirements. It should also be noted that I think the Season 7 'Interface' is a forgotten gem in the Geordi archives.

#6 Beverly Crusher (6-1 record, 1 Major; Ensemble: 6 out of 10)

The beautiful doctor is often labeled the most underused character in the whole series. I tend to agree as she only had seven episodes to prove herself over a 175 episode run (of which she missed the entire second season due to. . .injury?). However, she did share one major victory with Picard ('Attached') and when asked to carry the load, she did it at an 85% clip. Her turns in 'Remember Me', 'Suspicions', and the aforementioned 'Attached' are her highlights and if not for popular opinion, I'd have Beverly as a perfect 7-0 but I'm the only person who liked 'Sub Rosa'.

#7 Wesley Crusher (5-1, 0 Majors; Ensemble: 3 out of 10)

Wesley did some of his best work when NOT a series regular, posting three victories out of three possbilities after having departed the series ('The Game', 'The First Duty', and 'Journey's End'). Always a burden when a regular crewmember in the Ensemble field, Wesley was 2-1 in WC-specific episodes, faltering only with 'Coming of Age'.

#8 Guinan (0-0 record, 0 Majors; Ensemble: 9 out of 10)

Though never posting a record as an official member of the crew (she had 'semi-regular' status), Guinan never failed to disappoint as an ensemble crew member. Always mysterious, always offering something of interest, and loyal teammate to Picard, Guinan cracks the top 10 on personality alone.

#9 Katherine Pulaski (1-0 record, 0 Majors; Ensemble: 4 out of 10)

Dr. Pulaski only had one season of eligibility but was given one episode to work with and did a fine job in it ('Unnatural Selection'). She never made a serious impact on the series but is remembered, despite such limited work, because of her personality. Love it or hate it, Pulaski at least made an impact on every episode she was in and was clearly defined and well performed.

#10 Deanna Troi (3-4 record, 0 Majors; Ensemble: 3 out of 10)

Troi, even in her character-specific episodes, was always defined by her 'talents' or 'powers'. And since those 'talents' and 'powers' kind of sucked, she never was able to overcome the writing and deliver a winning record. While 'The Loss' is a magnificent victory for Troi's record, their were too many 'Man of the People' episodes for my liking. Impossible to define by herself, the character could never really make a true impact on the series. However, she did have nice camaraderie with some of the crew which gives her bonus points but not much. Entire seasons could go by without Troi and nothing would be missed.

#11 Tasha Yar (0-2 record, 0 Majors; Ensemble: 1 out of 10)

Sadly, and misogynistic, the only thing good I can say about Yar was that she had the most unbelievable body and could pull off those goofy Season 1/2 uniforms off with pizazz. Other then that, Yar had nothing to offer. She really only had one character-specific episode and it was bizarre ('Code of Honor') but I give her 'Skin of Evil' simply because she died. Either way, not a victory in sight. She did well in 'Yesterday's Enterprise', an Ensemble episode, and '...All Good Things' but failed to make an impression when she was around everyday. And no, Sela doesn't count.

Notes: TNG was dominated by Ensemble episodes but when the show relied on an individual character, the series regulars supplied an overall 58-25 (.698) record.

Mortal Kombat

2011-08-20T02:42:00.000-07:00

I've braced myself for the mocking and the guffaws but what you are about to see is a straight up examination of a film I hold in high regard. Clearly, many do not find Mortal Kombat to be a film of quality. Rotten Tomatoes has the critics lambasting it at 33% while the non-professional critics still see the rotten with a rating of 55%.

But the Paxton Configuration is dedicated to films that are forgotten and Mortal Kombat is all but forgotten at this point. 1995 seems like so long ago and while parts of Mortal Kombat have aged pitifully (more on this later), it also has remained constant in other areas.

I won't be the first person to say that Mortal Kombat doesn't have its faults and I certainly won't be the first person to say that a film with the name Paul W.S. Anderson on it doesn't have its flaws (though, at the time, Mr. Anderson went just by Paul Anderson), but I may be one of the few people who think Mortal Kombat is a gorgeous piece of art and not a bad story to boot.

When I reviewed the cinematography of Star Trek: Generations over at Secure Immaturity, I wanted to show people that even though a story may be flawed or an idea may seem played, other aspects lend themselves to a film and make them powerful, and certainly artistic. Star Trek: Generations is a so-so film that has story-telling issues but has amazing production values, led by the late John A. Alonzo as Director of Photography.

Mortal Kombat works much the same way. Sure, the film has a few holes here and there but besides the wonderful and imaginative aesthetics, Mortal Kombat actually succeeds on both storytelling and acting fronts as well. Don't believe me? I don't blame you. The movie is called Mortal Kombat and, in the scheme of things, stars either unknown actors, actors who are famous mainly for their ability to ham it up, or martial artists. But still, 16 years later, the film works on more then just the visual arts.

The movie of the video game was a new idea in 1995. Three films came before Mortal Kombat and the first was (and is) regarded as a steaming pile of garbage. That film was Super Mario Bros., the first film based on a video game, which had it's well documented problems, from changes in directors, to massive content philosophies (according to John Leguizamo, there is an R-rated version of the film, with sex and strippers and such, somewhere on the cutting room floor), to stars hating the very film they were working on (and the people, while they were there, that were directing it).

And while production catastrophes don't necessarily mean a bad motion picture, Super Mario Bros. became a double edged sword of failure: bad production, bad movie. Despite the humongous success of the titular characters in the video game world, the screenwriters, producers, and directors of the film decided to take too much dramatic license and basically butcher why people love Super Mario to begin with.

Nothing dictates, either with books turned to films or with video games turned to films, that the narrative and setting has to represent the EXACT same narrative/setting of the source material. And, with 2D games with very little story (archetypes of story really) dominating the '80s and '90s, a director/writer HAD to be creative to flesh out the world or, in the case of Mortal Kombat, be very smart with the archetypes chosen.

Super Mario Bros. was so fleshed out that it became bogged down in its own mythology and one that wasn't that creative or cute and cuddly. Super Mario Bros., the game, could use some dimensions if presented as a story BUT it doesn't need to be sapped of it's main quality: charm.

Mortal Kombat didn't have to worry about charm as the video game it was based on was perhaps one of the most controversial of all time. With even less of a story then Super Mario Bros. (people fight and kill people in a tournament), a film version needed to make an inter-dimensional tournament with creatures and sorcerers seem palatable for the audience.

And to do that, the writers had to take the characters they are given, with little to no back story (at the time anyway), and make their personal issues essential to this grand scheme. Mortal Kombat is too much about good vs. evil to make people think the result of the tournament is truly dangerous and the characters are too heroic to lose. That's why the writers put in a lot of dead Asian guys and a black dude as cannon fodder, and let the main people win.

But you have to win an audience over with character. Super Mario Bros. was butchered because it gutted the original characters and tried to transform them into unlikable people that fit into the alien world created by the producers. The other two video game films before Mortal Kombat, Double Dragon and Street Fighter, made similar mistakes though not AS costly as Super Mario Bros.

Double Dragon was hyper-stylized and goofy (though Robert Patrick was a boss in that) while Street Fighter had the same mythology-issues as Super Mario Bros.: taking characters people are familiar with, changing their essence, adding way too much back story, and then elaborating on the already complex back story to the nth degree. Plus, Street Fighter took away the fantastical elements of the game and betrayed the source material down to its bare essentials. Oh, and Street Fighter just plain sucked.

Mortal Kombat wisely decided to portray the Mortal Kombat universe as is, maintaining the fantasy angle and keeping it's core plot in tact but elaborating on the character archetypes that are the most appealing to audiences: the Flawed Hero, the Evil Sorcerer, etc. When you have basic story telling devices, that if unoriginal at least have definable points of movement and an arc, you get something someone can get behind.

Because the filmmakers chose the characters wisely, and implemented them where they needed to without overexposure, Mortal Kombat became the first video game movie that didn't suck and had decent, if not superb, acting.

Main star Robin Shou, for instance, may not be blessed with a lot of depth, but the story demands he only be driven by strong, non-complex emotions. And since his scenes and purpose is based on martial arts, and Shou, a choreographer on the film, is so adept at said skills, Liu Kang (Shou) appears deeper and better at the acting craft then you'd expect. In the end, you have a one dimensional archetypal hero played by an actor people barely know headlining a mainstream, $100 million + earning, box office champion.

But the casting, and well chosen archetypes, doesn't end there. Linden Ashby, a truly talented, charismatic, and all but forgotten actor, plays the movie-star martial artist Johnny Cage. What would certainly be Ashby's most successful film with him as a lead (top billing, actually), people seemed to have forgotten him pretty quickly, at least until Paul W.S. Anderson revived him back in mainstream theaters with an excellent appearance in Resident Evil: Extinction.

With these two heroes as the core, it is easy to root for them as they go through the rudimentary but timeless and fundamental plot. And that's where that pesky mythology comes into play. Instead of beating the audience over the head with forced exposition, elaborate and eventually explained set pieces, and a bow on top to wrap up every loose end, Paul W.S. Anderson and crew rely on the source material's vague mythology to move everything forward.

Anderson achieves a lot of this technically, which we'll explain later, but he also cuts to the chase: he points out what is absolutely necessary to understand about the universe (there is a tournament; if Earth's warriors lose then Earth is invaded by 'roided Muppets: bam, easy) and lets the rest play out as expected (or, when things get crazy, as unexpected).

While this makes some of the set pieces and actions silly at times, it also makes them, believe it or not, more believable when the action is delivered expertly. For instance, Liu Kang's multiple chest kick and Scorpion pulling his mask off and becoming a skeleton might not make a lot of sense and seem silly (and it is) but there was no complex explanation to it so it can easily be forgotten when something just as outlandish but not quite as goofy happens. It's a hit or miss type of attitude but Anderson delivers more hits then misses.

Instead of knowing why Sub Zero shoots ice blasts or how Shang Tsung sucks the souls out of dead warriors, we merely accept it because a)a lot is left to my imagination and b)the delivery of said actions are done with such professional quality that we merely think it cool, not dumb. Physics be damned if we can simply suspend our disbelief thanks to a masterful storyteller.

Mortal Kombat's side roles are populated by 'famous' actors. Christopher Lambert, who, until a recent rewatching, I thought was utterly dreadful in the film, is actually hammy to the extent he needs to be. Not required to be a hero or warrior, he is more a narrator and a Jiminy Cricket type who helps our heroes get through emotional crap. Lambert decides to play it loose and with a sense of humor. His lack of acting skills kills it in some areas but propels it in others. I actually found him to be more subtle then I remembered.

Unsubtle would be Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa who uses neck veins and elaborate mouth movements to consume scenery whole. But like Shou, not much is expected of Tagawa but to be evil and he becomes evil with abandon. It works in the universe because immediately hate but fear him. Same goes for the luminous Talisa Soto as Princess Kitana. Kind of a secondary Dr. Phil for Liu Kang, she is expected to be pretty and preach a lot. She does it, expertly.

The only misfire is with Bridgette Wilson as Sonya, but it has more to do with the writing then anything else. Her entire story arc ends after 25 minutes and thus has nothing to do but go from tough action babe to screaming damsel in distress by films end. However, the actress, chosen over Cameron Diaz for the role, doesn't look like a hack when doing her fighting scenes, so credit to her there.

But don't let all this praise fool you. The movie is still about supernatural beings ruthlessly killing people in a tournament and whenever rules are established they are often broken to propel drama. This is fine as long as you don't think much, just like the acting is fine as long as you don't examine it to deeply. But let's move on to the technical side.

Anderson's wisest decision was hiring John R. Leonetti (who would go on to direct the worst video game film of all time. Ironically, it was the sequel to Mortal Kombat). While Leonetti's resume remains bare and populated by only one other film with exceptional photography (The Mask), his work on Mortal Kombat is a magnum opus; a true masterpiece of lighting, colorization, shot selection, and, at times, choreography.

Most of Anderson's films start out beautifully. Even the incredibly dreadful Aliens vs. Predator had a lush opening 20 minutes, filmed by cinematographer David Johnson. Mortal Kombat's best cinematography, true to form, happens in the first twenty minutes as we meet all of the characters. Using lighting and camera angles to serve as emotion (fear, evil, good, frustration, etc), we are gifted with an extra narrator, someone who guides us to what we are feeling (even though the actors are doing that pretty well themselves).

And a lot of the cinematography is pomp and circumstance but that works in something called Mortal Kombat. Since the film has four armed heavy metal guitarists and dudes who shoot lizard-creatures from their hands, giving characters an abnormal flourish to exaggerate their intentions is expected and welcomed. And sometimes, when it's just plain showing off, it's just damn pretty to look at.

In the scene below, we are introduced to Kano, Sonya's main nemesis, and main heavy Shang Tsung. In reality, two bad guys would probably talk in a well lit room so they could see each other. But Kano is draped in darkness and Shang Tsung seems to be floating in the ethereal yet creepy bubbles that exist behind him:

In the next clip, which see an example of showing off (0:04 to 0:40), an example of unrealistic drama (6:20 to 6:48; a man standing in the dark purely to look bad ass), and the personification of evil (7:39 to 8:18). Being one of my favorite shots from the film, this being the third clip I ask you to see, Shang Tsung comes from out of the darkness to appear amidst well placed chains. A truly stunning shot that means more then just posing:

But the cinematographer teamed with the production designers to create what could be considered infinite space. As you'll see in a fight sequence posted further below (I'll point it out) and in the picture at the top of the technical discussion, Anderson was dedicated to creating endless space. Thus we have pathways of trees leading to nowhere, beach arenas with endless horizons, fighting rooms with endless levels, both up and down, and, towards the end of the film, a completely separate dimension in which are attention, at times, is drawn away from the main characters to projected shadows from a fire at least 200 to 300 feet away.

This approach gives the film depth and, like some of the supernatural gimmicks in the film, allows the imagination to take over. Instead of putting a whole world on a cramped sound stage, location shooting in Thailand helps ground the world in some sort of reality. And when relegated to a studio (and the film's aging sometimes shows this to a fault), the 'infinite space' ideal comes into play so you never feel like the characters are stuck between three real walls and the imaginary fourth one.

*this is a clip of Scorpion fighting Johnny Cage, one of my favorite fights in film history. It shows the 'infinite space' theory from above but also leads into my next point about the film

The other major plus to the film is its reliance on real fighting. Yes, some wire work was used when things get a little video gamey (word?) but, for the most part, each character is not only expected to fight in the film but is given there own type of fighting style. Instead of using Hollywood Kung-Fu, Robin Shou's Liu Kang performs moves completely different then say Sonja (not trained in martial arts) or Scorpion.

This attention to detail, appreciated with more passion, I'm sure, by martial arts and fighting enthusiasts, makes the action more exciting. One thing that is pretty incredible is that none of the fighters, even the non-professional fighters played by actors, never seem to be performing choreography. We never see the actors waiting to duck the kick or block the blow. The fighting is fluid and seems as real as it could be.

And the mixture of styles adds to this as someone like Kano, more a brawler/wrestler then a trained fighter, goes up against Sonya, who has trained with military defense/offense techniques. And with the final fight between Liu Kang and Shang Tsung, you have the more muscular Tsung fighting an aggressive brawny type of combat compared to Liu Kang's more finesse-based style.

When you add writing appropriate to the source material, a creative and masterful photography style, wistful set design that itself doesn't explain too much, and natural fighting that makes you cheer for victory, even when the outcome is well known, you have a winning film.

There is a lot more to Mortal Kombat that I haven't talked about, from the animatronic genius of Goro (though it has aged poorly), to the not-ready-for-release CGI of Reptile, to the magnificent score and soundtrack. But I think my point was made: Mortal Kombat is a film long berated but perhaps not totally appreciated.

A film with flaws but also with major successes. The heavy violence and flashy appearance may not be for everyone but I think, at least technically, the film is under appreciated. Pop it in your Blu-Ray player and give it another chance. It might not wow you with story but it will amaze you with its well produced design. Very few films have been successfully made from video games (I'd argue three, two directed by Paul W.S. Anderson), but, failed story or not, Mortal Kombat is truly the most cinematic.

Do You Know Your Munch?

2011-08-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

I'm ripping off good friend John Kenneth Muir and putting up a quiz-post. Go see his website, please. He's rad.

Anyway, here are the results to the John Munch appearance quiz. Congrats to my friend Tony who got all but the last one and @ThatNeilGuy who made a valiant attempt thought being Munch-Lite in his knowledge (but did get one right)!

This might be the easiest since Law and Order's Jack McCoy is in the picture. This is Munch in one of his four crossover appearances on the original Law and Order (three with Homicide, one with SVU).

The origin of Munch: Homicide: Life on the Street. Munch appeared in 119 episodes of Homicide, three crossover episodes with Law and Order, and one TV Movie.

Munch appears here on Sesame Street. He made a Muppetized appearance much earlier though he did not play or voice the puppet.

Munch expanded the television universe when he appeared in the Lone Gunmen episode of The X-Files called 'Unusual Suspects'.

Here Munch appears in The Wire which is argued by some to be in the Homicide universe (while others argue against it).

This is Munch on Law and Order: SVU. The show is entering its 13th season and Munch has appeared in 220 episodes. More to come.

Munch (and SVU co-star Ice-T) made a satirical appearance on the hit NBC show 30 Rock.

Ah, the one that seems to confound people. This is Munch appearing in Arrested Development.

Munch also appeared in The Beat (one episode), Jimmy Kimmel Live (one episode), and Law and Order: Trial by Jury (one episode). All together, John Munch has appeared in 351 total episodes of television and one TV movie.

In comparison, Kelsey Grammar played Frasier Crane in 470 episodes (Cheers, Frasier, Wings, others) while James Arness had appeared in 634 television episodes, four TV movies, and one motion picture as Marshal Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke and it's attached movies and one Bob Hope comedy).

Michael Dorn played Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation (175 episodes), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (102 episodes), four Star Trek movies, Webster (1 episode), MadTV (1 episode), Comic Relief VI (1 episode), Family Guy (2 episodes), and a Family Guy Special for a total of 283 television episodes. Not to mention his appearance as the character in six video games and as his own grandfather in yet another Star Trek movie (VI: The Undiscovered Country).

Geek Goddess #2

2011-08-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

Every male (and some females) grow up infatuated with a geeky lady sex symbol. And even before puberty hits and attraction means all kinds of uncomfortable things, both in public and private, the pure innocence of the geeky crush defines a boy, who is eight going on 14.

In Geek Goddess, my goal is to expose to you the geek goddesses of my youth. Some may seem irrational, some just don't make sense, some are simply products of their time, but many still linger in the ether of my hippocampus, invade my dreams, and still effect that little boy inside me growing up, sometimes even in the present day.

In the second installment, my Geek Goddess is Arcee.

There are two things I learned while researching this character. One, I don't know anything about Arcee, really. And two, there are LOTS of people who take the words 'Arcee' and 'Goddess' a little too seriously. Let's just say my google search for images brought up some interesting. . .things. . .anyway. . .

But the reason Arcee is on my list of Geek Goddesses is because she was one of, maybe, three or four total female characters that existed on my favorite shows as a youth. There was also Gypsy, the den-mother robot from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Scarlett/The Baroness from GI Joe. And while the Baroness made me feel funny before I was biologically able to feel funny, the most positive and sustaining (not to mention mysterious) female I had access to in the television/movie world was Arcee.

Sadly, the more I think about all the characters I just mentioned the more I think of somewhat insulting or one-dimensional female stereotypes. Scarlett = love interest. Baroness = boobs (and glasses). Arcee = female transformer. Not even A transformer but THE female one. This is kind of insulting, yes?

But while GI Joe negated itself by showing a good woman and a bad woman fighting each other, Arcee was all the positives of Gypsy (mother-like when she had to be) and of the guaranteed archetypes of male transformers us dudes wanted to be when we were kids. Who wouldn't want to hang around with a chick who turned into a car, shot laser guns, beat ass, took care of me if I was sad, and wore lipstick?

And while I happily remember her positive (and only) qualities as I look back at female 'goddesses' that inspired me, I am saddened to know that Arcee never really meant anything to anybody except as a demented sexual fantasy or to fill the 'female' demographic the creators didn't really need but half-heartedly attempted to produce.

Really, if you asked me what Arcee did in the Transformers Movie or in the following seasons of the television series, I'd say 'she was the girl one'. Sad but that was sexual politics in the 1980s, or at least in the world of boys toys. I've never seen an Arcee figure to save my life and I couldn't ever remembering her transform either. The picture above was the first time, probably since I was eight, that I knew WHAT she transformed into.

But I don't think this takes away from the fact that Arcee was, in the end, somewhat positive for my childhood. I'm glad I went the 'I like Arcee because she is a cool, ass-kicking, nice robot' route and not the 'if only I could have sex with a robot' route however.

But children need positive female characters growing up and Arcee did that, at least in the film version (the only thing I can remember her in strongly). I am too limited in Arcee mythology to comment on the subsequent seasons of the TV show. But what I did see was, as mentioned before, a chick who shot guns and had a buddy-buddy, not a romantic relationship, with that green dude who turned into a helicopter and some other futuristic car thing (Springer?).

This is important mainly because it helped me realize women weren't just damsels in distress or evil ladies who wear tight fighting spandex. Arcee kind of represented the progressive action hero female as much as she could. The movie version didn't accentuate her 'breasts' and never had her whining or crying because a Decepticon shot her foot. She was 'one of the guys'. And I don't think anyone would be offended, male or female, that she wore lipstick to identify her as female. Okay, and she was PINK but still. . .those aren't things to be ashamed of. Girls like lipstick and the color pink.

And while she was kind of lumped into a sort of stereotype (being the 'only' female Autobot, or so it seems) she was a unique one. And one I will try to remember more comprehensively in the future. Arcee didn't have a lot to work with when she existed but, surprisingly, she made the most of it.

Movie Commentary: Rubber (2010)

2011-07-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

The Paxton Configuration is back for episode 4!

Prepare to see a tire blow up your skull! In this episode I am joined by my good friend 'Smarty Librarian' and/or 'Filmi Girl'. The film is short and rather weird so we actually spend a lot of time discussing other things not realizing, until later, that we are doing just what the movie wanted us to do (or was making fun of us for).

Topics include: lead actor Stephen Spinella's career, how English actors are better than American actors, is the tire cute?, the lead actresses' butt (and how nice it is), the personification of an object, how I have the fashion sense of one of the little boys in the film, Transformers and Megan Fox, sexuality and nudity in films, the resurgence of archetype films like Hobo With a Shotgun, some occasional silence due to our being in wonder, where the heck was this filmed?, and discussions on revenge and the '80s.

I like heads exploding but I liked speaking to Smarty about it even better!

You can listen to the commentary here or find it at iTunes. Please subscribe there and leave a comment!

Nostalgia Bath #3: MST3K, I Accuse My Parents

2011-07-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

To say that Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been a part of my life would be an understatement.

It is an appendage really, a piece of me that I probably could live without but would not be, ya know, whole.

And whether it be a sunny, rainy, happy, sad, good, bad, or 'I dunno' kind of day, there is always certain comfort food episodes of I Accuse My Parents.

Back in the good 'ol days, MST3K was recorded on VHS and when official releases came out, there was basically a small selection available. But if you happened to have recorded a personal favorite that wasn't commercially available, you held onto that baby for dear life.

The advent of DVD and massive changes in copyright issues have allowed more of MST3K's episodes to be available to the public but, mostly, a large potion of MST3K's catalog is missing, being owned by the lucky few who were wise enough to utilize VHS technology at the right time.

I keep my VCR mainly for my wide selection of MST3K episodes that are not available. I have one VHS tape, recorded in 1995, that contains Daddy O (not yet released), Time of the Apes (not yet released), and Wild Rebels (not yet released). To say it holds a special place in my heart is, like up above, a massive understatement.

But my all time favorite episode, I Accuse My Parents, was available for download on iTunes for god knows how long and I, for whatever reason, didn't know it. For years and years and years, I've clung to my professionally released, yet very rare, copy of I Accuse My Parents as much as I had the three episode trifecta listed above.

But now I Accuse My Parents is available in all it's digital/forever mine glory on my computer (and backed up on other hard drives). The VHS tape can finally get lost in storage and if it happens to fall down on a hard floor my heart will no longer leap out of my chest and ask for an electrical charge.

What makes I Accuse My Parents so awesome? Well, for one, the movie isn't really that bad. I'm serious. It has a ridiculous title, some pretty bad performances, and no actual logic (as Joel and the Bots indicate by showing a self-made recreation of the inside of protagonist Jimmy's head). But the movie does have heart, you can't shame it for trying to say something, it was sent out to troops on the front lines of Europe and Asia, and it has some good performances to couple with the bad.

The fact that the movie is so lovably doofy is what makes Joel, Tom Servo, and Crow's evisceration of it so fun: it's like good friends jabbing you with an elbow or giving you a poke. Unlike some films in which Joel (or Mike) and the Bots mercilessly HATE what they are seeing, you can tell there is some type of weird geeky respect for the film.

I would probably never watch the thing without Joel and company but I do have the rare feeling of comfort when I see the characters in the actual non-MST3K story of I Accuse My Parents. Add that to my love of MST3K's characters and I have what amounts to a college dorm room experience in which I am sharing something fun but dumb with friends.

I first saw I Accuse My Parents when it was first on TV and it was the very first MST3K video tape I ever bought. The fact that I can still watch it and still love it shows how timeless and funny MST3K is. The jokes only get better with age.

Part of the success with MST3K's treatment of I Accuse My Parents is there ability to create running gags and themes that never run out of gas. When hero Jimmy, who, as we learn in the beginning of the film, is accusing his parents in court for an as of yet unknown criminal act, tells his life story, we learn a lot of things about Jimmy right away that stick with him, for better or worse, through the whole movie.

Well, for one, he writes essays, and well in fact. Two, he has a birthday (of this there is NO doubt). And he also lies a lot to other people about how great his parents are even though they are anything but. With these three 'characteristics' in place for Jimmy, who we will see through most of the film, Joel and the Bots just roll with it until it reaches epic, hyperbolic performances.

But Jimmy's naive and harmless nature makes Joel/Bot's riffing seem harmless as well. Nothing ever gets nasty here. Jimmy is a liar and a goof ball for sure (he is so naive, in fact, that he ends up dealing drugs for bad guy Charles Blake), and many other characters lie as well (see video below), but no one is worthy of damnation or hate like, say, Robert Ginty, Timothy Van Patten, or Joe Don Baker.

I Accuse My Parents has a 2.0 rating on imdb.com but I'd want to rate it a little higher then that. There are actually some catchy songs in the picture and the performances of Mary Beth Hughes as Kitty Reed and George Meeker (as Blake) are actually quite good for a picture of this ilk (and poor writing).

But, whether you find the film somehow enjoyable or really bad, there is no doubting the power of Joel and the Bots masterful and, in this case, easy-going, harmless riffing. I Accuse My Parents has stayed with me for almost two decades. I imagine it will stay with me for decades more.

Soon to Be Forgotten in Time: The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

2011-07-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

When you have absolutely no expectations towards a films success or failure, you tend to find yourself surprised by the end of the running time.

Last week I found myself in the dollar theater watching The Lincoln Lawyer. I had no expectations whatsoever and, despite the premise being read to me by a friend, I didn't really expect the story I got.

And while The Lincoln Lawyer is not going to be an Oscar winning success, a box office smash ($57 million on a $40 million budget), or a must-have Blu-Ray (the DVD/Blu-Ray was released this previous Tuesday), it will be a shame if the film was forgotten by time.

The Lincoln Lawyer is a film of yesteryear because it focuses on delivering its dramatic punch with acting and tone rather then CGI and cheap tricks. If you look at The Lincoln Lawyer's meager box officer total and its surrounding competition, you see, mostly, a movie season devoid of the most basic element of movie magic: imagination.

Sure, flying dragons and exploding objects are fun but they are two dimensional and leave little to the third eye. You are presented with a concept and are forced to accept it for what it is. And while The Lincoln Lawyer isn't going to blow away aspiring screenwriters with innovation or collect Oscar statues for it's tour-de-force acting, The Lincoln Lawyer can be considered a success, and thus quickly forgotten, because it entertains as a businesslike pace.

The Lincoln Lawyer's biggest asset is its characters. Without them, the film would be a glorified television pilot with a big budget. The film is a member of the not-innovative-yet-still-creative-and-fun genre of court case films. The genius of it is though, that the rather boring procedures of the court room are used for and against certain characters and their motivations. What would be a mundane dismantling of a witness is, in the end, a concurent dismantling of a man's soul.

The Lincoln Lawyer's biggest asset is its characters. Without them, the film would be a glorified television pilot with a big budget. The film is a member of the not-innovative-yet-still-creative-and-fun genre of court case films. The genius of it is though, that the rather boring procedures of the court room are used for and against certain characters and their motivations. What would be a mundane dismantling of a witness is, in the end, a concurrent dismantling of a man's soul.

The man's soul at risk, you ask? Matthew McConaughey, who saves his excellent acting performances for the films no one sees or has forgotten about (see: Surfer, Dude, Contact, Two for the Money, Reign of Fire, and Frailty), brings a surprisingly subtle complexity to his role. McConaughey is restricted to what I call 'reality physics': he is not a superhero but just good at his job. You don't expect (nor will you see) McConaughey jumping out of planes or fighting eleven dudes at once.

Massive respect also has to go to Ryan Phillippe who has survived the 'teen' type-casting craze of the '90s (with things like Cruel Intentions) and has moved on to both Oscar-esque dramas (Gosford Park, Flags of Our Fathers, Stop-Loss) and goofy comedies (MacGruber). His role, without spoiling anything, appears to be rather thankless and one dimensional. But his initial appearance as a mere prop-piece of the proceedings gets turned on it's head towards the films climax when his character takes the witness stand. It makes the entire movie worth watching.

And the workmanlike, but talented, supporting cast can't go unnoticed. William H Macy? Marisa Tomei? Frances Fisher and Bob Gunton? John Leguizamo? Michael Pena and Josh Lucas? It's a smorgasbord of amazing actor-actors doing their very best to be real and not overly exuberant or flashy. In fact, this style infects the whole film, but in a good way.

As mentioned before, The Lincoln Lawyer manages to make you use your head to contemplate problems and uses only the most mundane (or, in other words, 'normal') occurrences to deliver action and suspense. The idea of Dues ex Machina doesn't have a place here. . .and neither does heroic shoot-outs or final standoffs between hero and villain. This is almost how real life would work.

I imagine The Lincoln Lawyer making a few rounds on TNT and maybe even HBO/Showtime/Cinemax before fading away into the ether of the cultural zeitgeist. The film, I will stress, will not blow you away nor change the way cinema is made or interpreted, but it does believe in something movies claim to do all the time but often fail: entertain. It won't have the cult sustainability to last much longer so see it while you can. . .before you forget.

Movie Commentary: Serenity (2005)

2011-07-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

The Paxton Configuration is back for episode 3!

For this episode I am joined by Geek in Arms Luis Vazquez, blogger for Sci-Fi Saturday Night (and graphic artist during the day). I've known Luis for many years (veterans of GeeksOn's Forums) and he offers bright and funny conversation to more then just movie commentaries.

For the 2005 film Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon and starring Castle star Nathan Fillion, Luis and I discuss how fan friendly the film is which may have led to it alienating general audiences, how I seem to rip on the movie at every turn even though I love it, the history of Firefly and how to calm down fans who are still mad that it's gone, the beauty of battle bras, the USS Exposition, Serenity's ending having possibly been unintentionally ripped off from a Stephen King short story, and the existence of Browncoats: Redemption (amongst many other things).

It was a real blast revisiting the always exciting Joss Whedon world of cowboys in space. I hope you do too with this full audio commentary.

You can listen to the commentary here or find it at iTunes. Please subscribe there and leave a comment!

Geek Goddess #1

2011-06-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Every male (and some females) grow up infatuated with a geeky lady sex symbol. And even before puberty hits and attraction means all kinds of uncomfortable things, both in public and private, the pure innocence of the geeky crush defines a boy, who is eight going on 14.

In Geek Goddess, my goal is to expose to you the geek goddesses of my youth. Some may seem irrational, some just don't make sense, some are simply products of their time, but many still linger in the ether of my hippocampus, invade my dreams, and still effect that little boy inside me growing up, sometimes even in the present day.

In our first installment, my Geek Goddess is Pam Dawber.

Mork and Mindy is a show that hasn't exactly aged well. Robin Williams now an Oscar winner of both drama and comedy went on to bigger and better things but, during the reruns in the early '90s on Nick @ Nite, Mork and Mindy was kind of a piece of my life.

I loved Robin Williams for one. I felt kind of like the out of control, loud, obnoxious alien in my own life that Mork was in the show. But also, as an 8/9/10 year old, I had an unabashed crush on Pam Dawber, the foil to Williams/Mork, who played Mindy.

Looking at Mindy now, with 29 year old eyes, there is nothing very sexual or provocative about the character. But as a young kid, something about the 'one of the guys' personality and the non intimidating looks made Dawber a childhood crush, no doubt.

With innocent thoughts, you just wanted Mindy/Dawber to hold your hand or hug you. She was kind of like the way older sister of your friend next door (I did have one of those next door in my Brandon, FL neighborhood) that you didn't know how to view because, thankfully, you didn't view anything through a sexual lens.

Seeing Dawber now, more cute then sexy, still brings back fond memories. And while a beautiful woman, without doubt, I can't see her without eight year old eyes. To me she is cute and whimsical Mindy and, for all time, I shall have a geek crush on her.

Phoenix Comic-Con '11: Righteous Exhibitors

2011-05-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

For a look at Phoenix Comic-Con '10, check out this link from my previous site, Secure Immaturity.

This year, I wanted to take a look at some of the cool exhibitors at the Con and see the passion that goes behind some of their products/projects. It takes a lot for folks to buy booths and share their hobbies or fledgling businesses. Here are a few of them that I found particularly cool.

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Name: Todd Cook

Website: www.toddcookdesigns.com

The Run Down: Todd, an affable fellow from Arizona, has appeared at the uber-con in San Diego and, when not free lancing as a graphic artist, puts many hours into his passion for designing exact replicas of movie props and costumes.

Todd showed me his baby, a Giga Meter from Ghostbusters 2, which, he assured me, was the only original in the country, outside of the original prop. It took him three years to design as the main component that makes up the base of the Meter was a no-longer produced Power Scrubber Buffer (whatever the hell that is).

Needless to say, I was very impressed with Todd's display of exact-replica devices, props, and costumes. At one point, a rather outgoing fellow decided to debate with Todd that his Joker mannequin was a real person and 'he could tell' it was real. Even when Todd punched the mannequin and continually pressed the mannequin's eyeballs, the kid wasn't convinced.

I think this, more then anything, shows how talented Todd is as a designer.

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Name: Victor Moreno

Website: www.victormoreno .com; @VictorMoreno (Twitter)

The Run Down: Victor is an immensely talented and extremely in demand graphic designer. He's worked for movie studios, professional musicians, small and large businesses a like. However, Victor was representing his individual, unprofessional talents at Phoenix Comic-Con.

A friend of Victor's runs an independent movie theater and Victor takes his time out to create theatrical posters for the theater. On display was, besides the examples below, a brand new Captain America/Hail Hydra Red Skull poster campaign that was fun and creative.

I don't have photos and I couldn't make it back to the booth to purchase my own copies but they are in the style of 1940s propaganda and very cool. As soon as they appear on the website, I am buying those copies specifically to grace my walls. Here are some other neat poster concepts Victor had for sale:

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I also really dug the spot on creations from a Star Wars vendor I forgot to get the name of (bad reporting! I know!). The costumes, droids, and designs were fantastic and here are some of their work below. If anyone from this vendor just happens to see the site, shoot me an email and I'll add your info to the post.

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Stay tuned for a review of the comic '68, by Image Comics, on The Liberal Dead.

Movie Commentary: Sunshine (2007)

2011-05-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Paxton Configuration Podcast is back for episode 2!

For this episode I am joined by Troy Foreman, the co-creator/co-host of Back to Frank Black, the website/podcast dedicated to all things Millennium and Lance Henriksen. Back to Frank Black is dedicated, with full backing from it's stars, to get Fox's Millennium back on any screen possible.

For the 2007 film Sunshine, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Chris Evans, Troy and I discuss the somewhat overused tropes of genre films, the awesomeness of Chris Evans, the hotness of Rose Byrne, the (what we think) factual sciency science behind the science fiction, the role of the 'brotha' in sci-fi films, Cliff Curtis' annoying skin condition, Danny Boyle's career, the exceptional music/cinematography, the acceptance (or failure) of the last thirty minutes, and the film's amazing attention to detail.

We had a great time so please enjoy this feature length audio commentary of Sunshine!

You can download the podcast here or on iTunes. Please subscribe and write a review!

Not Bad For a Non-Player Character: Lance Henriksen and Video Games, Pt 2 (2009-Present)

2011-05-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (2009)

Lance found himself, at first, on the fringes of video game history, slowly creeping up the trail towards 0s and 1s immortality, but then was involved in some of the most landmark franchises known to the video game market.

In 2009, Lance found himself in two well known franchises, the second being one of the most successful titles in video game history. But first came The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, where Lance provided, once again, supporting work behind film star Vin Diesel and fellow genre actress Michelle Forbes.

All the Riddick games have been well-received, despite the troubled movie franchise it’s based on, mainly because the film series’ star, Vin Diesel, is, for lack of a better word, geeky and appreciates the gaming market (both board and video).

But game players were also pleased with the fact that the games focused on less mythological aspects of the Riddick franchise that the first film, Pitch Black, didn’t have and The Chronicles of Riddick, to some, was bogged down with. Dark Athena is a first person shooter/puncher that is more black and white then grey: escape a prison, kill some drones, defeat evil, go off and do something else later.

Lance is once again on the side of the good as a helpful (and strange) prisoner named Dacher, helping Vin Diesel’s Riddick escape the prison they both share. His role isn’t immense but it is, at times, essential to the storyline.

Like the first game in the series, Escape from Butcher Bay, Assault on Dark Athena was well liked by fans and critics. It sold close to half a million copies in it’s initial release for the XBox 360 and PS3 and, above all else, like most games Lance is involved in, the voice work was cited as excellent.

Chris Park from CPU Gamer said ‘without hyperbole: Assault has some of the best voice acting I’ve heard in any medium’, while Chris Taylor of Console Monster mentioned that Assault’s voice acting was a ‘stand out feature’. Multiple review sites, both good and bad, mentioned the voice work as a positive.

And while Assault on Dark Athena is considered a solid success, Lance’s 2009 was just getting started.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

Between 12:01 on November 10th, 2009 and midnight a second before Novemeber 11th, 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sold 4.7 million copies. Out grossing films such as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Up, The Hangover, and Star Trek in 24 meager hours, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 became a world wide sensation.

And at the heart, quite literally, of this massive video game event was none other then Lance Henriksen as the soothing general cum villain General Shepard (I would warn of spoilers but I kind of blew that with the opening video in Part 1).

Clearly the most profitable of Lance's video game works and one of the most decorated, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 joined rare company with the Halo video games as a product that transcended the target audience. Modern Warfare 2 was on the news and even parents of parents of your kids knew what it was.

Every single type of medium encounters this success. There is the rap /hip-hop record that white 50 year olds buy because society dictates it. There is the home appliance that is clearly not needed but everyone needs it regardless. There is the movie that people of all ages come to despite the fact that 30 films before have come and gone without a single interest from the majority packing the seats.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was that kind of cultural icon in the video game world surpassed in newsworthy, culture-bending popularity by, perhaps, the Halo games and the original Super Mario games. Modern Warfare 2 sold more copies then Halo and it's sequels simply because it was released on ALL platforms, while Halo is relegated to the XBox 360 and the PC.

For the second straight time, Lance was involved in a massive product that had produced game after game and was, sequel after sequel, gaining more and more popularity. Being a dependable and talented voice actor has it's benefits and while all of Lance's games have been successful (if they were released anyways), this was a whole new level of success.

The first day of release for COD:MW2 basically outsold the entire catalogue of Lance's voice acting career resume in the video game market.

The numbers are quite staggering really. Super Mario Bros., on the original Nintendo, sold a remarkable 40.24 million units. But the majority of this is due to the fact that every Nintendo console CAME with the game. However, Super Mario Bros. basically founded the company. . .one couldn't exist without the other. . .so that holy number is not only reverential in the video game world but practically insurmountable. Only Wii Sports, another packaged game with the Wii, has surpassed it at a mind-bogglingly 76 million plus.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is about as close as you can get, in the 'modern' era of non-package games, anyways, of approaching the record. The XBox 360 version alone sold 12.4 million copies. The PS3 version sold 9.1 million while the PC version is slowly approaching the million sold mark (amazing considering the PC is a virtually 'dead' market for gamers). Overall, Lance found himself the main antagonist in a video game that has sold 22.2 million copies.

The game itself does not disappoint those who hyped it up. Gifted with the best graphics the systems could produce, amazing voice acting, an incredible film score, and truly unseen realism, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is one of the most legendary games ever released. . .both in terms of technology and economics.

Now it was time for Lance to take it to the next level and actual get his face, relatively speaking, shown.

Alien vs. Predator (2010)

Even though Lance is reading this, I have to say that the Alien vs. Predator movies are pretty much the bane of my existence. I wish they didn't exist. They are just dreadful pieces of dreck that sully everything the amazing Aliens series built. Sure, the Predator movies are pretty solid but nothing ruins the beauty of the aliens more then making them lame animals in a hunt. And that's what AVP and it's sequel did.

Lance was great, of course, when is he not. . .but yeah. . .those movies hurt my soul.

But the games are kick ass! The Aliens vs. Predator idea had been around in the video game world long before those. . .movies. . .were and the popularity and general awesomeness of them is what led to all the hype that eventually got the films made. CURSE YOU VIDEO GAME GEEKS.

But despite the films, the most recent incarnation of the video game series, this time based on the films, was an astounding piece of work for multiple reasons. Besides the picture perfect design, the incredibly terrifying atmosphere, and the great sound effects (plenty of James Cameron era machine guns, Predator snarls, and aliens screeches to make the fanboys squeeee), we got to see Lance in human form, basically.

Though not original to the game Aliens vs. Predator itself, the unique game play was a definite plus. In order to maximize playability, the game offers up three different playable perspectives. Feel like screaming GAME OVER MAN while packing heat as a Colonial Marine, there is a storyline for you. Want to spray gunk in a Marine's face and bitchslap a Predator, be an alien. You can also be one of those cheapshotting, invisible predators too.

The game design can be nauseating, in a good way, if playing the Aliens. Fitting to a creature that can scale walls and crawl upside down, the control of the Aliens allows you to be one with every dimension. You can stick to ground transport and sneak up on Marines or you can creep along the walls or ceiling and stalk at will. It takes some getting used to as the controls literally switch directions in a second (up becomes down, right becomes left, etc) but once handled, you feel at one with your inner alien.

Lance plays Karl Bishop Weyland (how many Bishops as of 2010 has Lance played now?) which makes sense since you can't have Aliens without a Bishop. There was the nasty bit of business of CHARLES Bishop Weyland being killed in AVP 1 but. . .it's fiction!).

Weyland is not a playable character but it is neat to see Lance's likeness be used in a video game for the first time. So gamers are not only gifted with the voice talent but the iconic visage as well. And seeing the character, albeit somewhat far removed from the original Bishop we saw in Aliens, in the game lends it some cinematic umpf.

While there was no way Aliens vs. Predator could match Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in terms of sales or hype, Aliens vs. Predator still sold an impressive 1.96 million copies across three total platforms and counting. And Lance basically became not just the voice of a character but a living, breathing, animated character we could all see. A whole new generation of fans now know who Lance Henriksen is.

The Future

You're going to have to allow me a lack of integrity in this article because I find myself at a crossroads. Do I review Lance's most recent work and thus spoil the fun for myself or do I hold off. Well, being a selfish creature, I'm going to hold off.

When Lance was not invited to Mass Effect 2, I was mad! Admiral Hackett was one of the coolest characters in the game even though you didn't see him. Mass Effect 2 was still an epic and groundbreaking game and, in many ways, surpassed the original by leaps and bounds. But not having Lance was kind of a bummer.

However, in March of 2011, a new downloadable addition was added to Mass Effect 2 (for the uninitiated, big games that are on systems with Internet access usually come out with supplements to the main game called Downloadable Content (DLC). In many cases they are just extra missions that don't influence the story but aid in the building of a character. . .but sometimes they are extra chapters, meant as mini-sequels to the previous game and mini-prequels for the next game, that expand the mythology and the gameplay).

Mass Effect 2 already had two irrelevant side mission DLCs but 'The Arrival' was not only an 'inbetweener' story and mission, one that essentially takes place after the events of Mass Effect 2 and before the unreleased Mass Effect 3, but it marked the return of Lance as Admiral Hackett. And this time we get to meet the man behind the voice.

I've attached a video below of Lance's work in 'The Arrival'. I've yet to watch it because I want to play the expansion and have not done so yet. I want to be surprised. But I couldn't leave out a Lance performance out of this discussion regardless of it's youth or the consequences to my surprise.

Lastly, before I leave, Lance has recorded voice work for another epic franchise, the Star Wars universe. It's hard to believe Lance had never starred in a version of Star Trek or Star Wars in any capacity before 2011 but finally, on a yet unreleased date, Lance will make an appearance as Jedi Master Gnost-Dural.

Video of Lance describing the events in the prequel films and beyond exists. I've posted it below. Enjoy.

So there you have it. Eleven titles, 10 of which were released, and millions upon millions of copies sold. Lance is, essentially, everywhere. And maybe we'll be lucky enough to keep hearing him on both playable and non-playable characters a like for many more years to come.

Not Bad For a Non-Player Character: Lance Henriksen and Video Games, Pt 1 (2002-2008)

2011-05-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

Introduction

I'm playing Roach, an Army Ranger, and I've just infiltrated my main enemies' stronghold somewhere between Georgia and Russia. I've fought waves and waves of Russian bastards coming at me from all sides.

I've been flanked for hours (and a number of reloaded save points) but I've managed to recover the necessary intelligence I need to take down Makarov, the bad guy ruining my day and making the adventure in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 possible.

I flee through the Russian wilderness, getting tagged by enemy bullets but managing to live and approach the rescue plane. I can see General Shepard, voiced by Lance Henriksen, extending his hand.

He is all that stands between death and life and seeing his face and hearing his voice. . .the one that's been guiding me for hour upon hour in this video game world. . .is comfortable. I've basically defeated evil and beat the game. But, not all is what it seems. Here is a recap:

That rat bastard Lance Henriksen shot me! And burned me alive!

---

An Actor Across Mediums

Lance Henriksen has graced our large and small screens since 1972 in about every part you can imagine: good guy, bad guy, father, son, brother, murderer, tailor, tinker, spy, etc. Since 1972, he has 174 total credits.

He's graced us with big budget Hollywood films, low key independent movies, made for TV and straight to video flicks, and has even appeared on our TV sets week to week. Lance is everywhere and despite the massive exposure, in every genre, we want to see more.

And since 2002, Lance has spread out even further: from Movies and Television to video games. And as varied as Lance's career has been in film, he repeats that process in the video game world. Need a leading man to headline your game? Lance Henriksen is there. Need a spunky character actor? Lance Henriksen will provide a voice.

Be it bad guy or good guy, horror, sci-fi, or western, Lance Henriksen has done it. And the adventure continues. But let's take a look at Lance's history in the video game market, in chronological order. For as the world turns, so does Lance's role in the history of video games. What follows is a bumpy, wide ranging, and up and down road. . .but in the end, Lance Henriksen prevails in providing his voice and making something special, sometimes out of nothing.

RLH (2002)

For a visual medium that is known for voice acting, on both sides of the spectrum, it's surprising it took Lance Henriksen so long to get a call and join in on the fun. Or, rather, to bring some legitimacy to a market that was known, at least in the early days, for atrocious acting and even worse vocal work.

The video games of today are known for their super-famous celebrities and extensive voice work. Part of that is due to technology but another part is that video game creators and producers realize the voice is key in making what is an animated character seem real.

To me, current video games rely too much on big voices that will attract consumers then voice actors who can actual voice act. The 2002 game Run Like Hell: Hunt or Be Hunted, released originally on the Playstation 2 and later on the original XBox, was the first video game to cast Lance as a voice actor.

In the game, Lance plays Nicholas Conner, the main hero of the piece, and is surrounded by lesser known celebrities, but amazing voice actors, such as Thomas Wilson, Kate Mulgrew, Clancy Brown, Michael 'F&*^ing' Ironside (that's the only way to say his name), and Brad Dourif.

The game, initially conceived as a trilogy, went through the video game equivalent of development hell. It took five years to develop and went through a number of creative changes as well as problems with physical production itself.

The lead designer, in a forum post on Neoseeker, admitted numerous staff changes and concept changes and that production was rushed, so much so that the game and it's developers 'ended up with something that really didn't know what it was'.

That said, game critics and game players seem to be split on the game's quality. According to Metacritic, the Rotten Tomatoes for video games, twenty seven critics were all over the board, with five in the positive, four in the negative, but 18 'mixed' for an overall rating of 58 out of a 100. However, the players themselves see the game as a success, with an 81% success rate.

As for Lance's role, many were pleased he was in the game. Gamespot, in it's preview of the game, said:

"In what may be the biggest relief of all for "survival horror" fans, all of the voice acting will be done professionally, and using big-name talent. We've already mentioned that Connor's gruff visage will be perfectly complemented by his gravelly voiced real-life speech thanks to Lance Henriksen, but other big names like Kate Mulgrew and Clancy Brown will ensure that we don't have to groan our way through another "master of unlocking" festival of noise".

The game itself looks a little outdated but as the video shows below, it exudes atmosphere, no doubt aided by Lance's authentic and unique voice. The story revolves around a standard sci-fi/horror template but it appears, at least in the cinematics, as effective.

Nicholas Conner, the hero voiced by Henriksen, must get from one side of a space station to the other all while fighting off an alien group called The Race. Though we had seen this kind of thing in Aliens and Star Trek: First Contact, very few video games had attempted this type of storytelling.

While RLH seems to be a mixed bag with critics and game players a like, Lance was not done putting a voice print on the video game medium. A whole year didn't even go by before Lance was lending his talents again. . .

Red Faction II (2002)

Not unlike movies, video games like to establish franchises and pump out as many 'title' games as the cash cow will allow. A lesser known franchise which, as of 2011, has spawned five total games, is the Red Faction franchise.

Much like Total Recall, the original Red Faction is about a blue collar Martian fighting a corporate entity. Like a lot of video game sequels, Red Faction II continues to extend the story and, with more advanced technology and lessons learned from previous games and tests, expand the gameplay and eliminate the bugs.

Red Faction II is somewhat removed from the first game, taking on a more epic feel and increases the consequences of what happens to the hero and the universe he lives in. Lance plays that hero, Molov, and is joined by Jason Statham in the vocal talent department.

Results seem to be mixed on the game on different platforms. A majority of critics feel the PC version was weak but console versions were highly praised. Most critics, per Metacritic, in regards to the Playstation 2 version, either summed up their experience as 'vastly improved from the first game' or 'fun, if not original'.

Critiques on the voice work were never negative, at least towards the actors. IGN stated in it's review:

"The voice actors generally do their best with the lines as written. When the dialogue comes off badly, it's usually because it should have been retooled at the script stage".

In the end, Red Faction II was Lance's first true success on the video game front. He was providing leading man talent on a game that sold 1.3 million copies worldwide. His next project would not do so well. In fact. . .it doesn't technically exist.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Never Released)

The project to end all projects never got off the ground and while video of the game exists, Lance's work in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has technically never seen the light of day.

And what a shame, as the game would be Lance's third straight leading role in his third attempt. And unlike Run Like Hell, which was often delayed and took half a decade to finish, or Red Faction II, which was a sequel to a fairly successful franchise, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was actually a 'can't wait until it's here' kind of game.

The plot was a pure Lance Henriksen genre dream: a warrior named Abaddon (Lance) must gather forces together to fight off the actual four horsemen of the apocalypse and stop the end of the world! Better still, Stan Winston, noted designer and filmmaker, who directed Lance in Pumpkinhead, would be hands on during the production process.

But alas, it never came to fruition despite completed voice work by not only Lance but Traci Lords and Tim Curry. The company 3DO, which produced the game, went bankrupt and took the project down with it. Sadly, it wasn't just a concept lost and up for grabs but had gone all the way through pre-production into the design process.

3DO spent close to $10 million developing and designing the game but during it's two year development process, went bankrupt and the game was completely cancelled. An official trailer, however. exists with limited visuals and even smaller gameplay and there is a 10 minute long recording of the beta (complete with Lance's audio and gameplay) in existence.

In the end, a resurrection was attempted first in 2004 and then through word of mouth when the next generations of consoles hit the market but nothing has ever come of it. And thus a Lance Henriksen project goes down the tubes.

Gun (2005)

Since the dawn of the home video game console and the brick and mortar arcade store, video games have been a successful and legit business. Changes in technology always help the video game industry and there have been 'generation' upon 'generation' of game consoles and games that, to this day, seem to keep people from the ages of 2 to 92 in awe.

And while video games have always been seen as entertainment, it's struggled to be taken seriously. Halo 2 changed all that. Halo 2 managed to out gross films that year and before the game was even released almost two million people wanted it, putting down sometimes full price for a copy.

At that point the idea of releasing a game became as much about entertaining the gamers as much as selling a universal product. Video games had not become a niche market but a worldwide one. Yes, many games had come before Halo 2 and some games, before and after, have sold more copies, but the intense interest in Halo 2 made producers realize that a whole new level of consumers was virtually being ignored for every OTHER game.

Thus, the video-game-as-film started to take form. The games were still about strategy, timing, and fun but there was also an intense need to depict games as multi-media events. . .you play, then you watch, and when you finally take a break, buy the soundtrack. Games upped the ante on story and splashed the cash on big names to provide voice talent on the game.

Lance Henriksen, already a veteran at this point, was approached for the Western game Gun and was asked to portray a villain for the first time. Gun, while never reaching the heights of popularity of other games of it's time, still sold past the one million mark and led to, years later, more advanced games like Red Dead Redemption.

In Gun, the hero is an Apache named Colton, played by Thomas Jane, and his is an epic journey in which he goes from hunting in the forest to tracking down a railroad baron named Macgruder (Lance Henriksen). The video game player is tasked with escorting Colton through many towns and avenging the death of Colton's father.

Gun, taking the idea of casting seriously, had an amazing voice cast. Besides Jane and Lance, Gun displays the voice talents of Brad Dourif, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, and Tom Skerrit. The game, once again not a huge seller, was popular with critics on every platform (Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, GameCube, and PC).

Thomas McDermott of DarkZero said:

"In my opinion I found most of the game audio to be of a high standard with the voice acting having lots of emotion and feeling behind it. The main reason for this high quality voice acting comes from the game using actors from Hollywood to voice their game. Thomas Jane from Deep Blue Sea plays Colton White, while Lance Henriksen from Aliens and Brad Dourif from the TV show Deadwood play other important characters in the game. With these three names alone you should be expecting great things . . ."

Meanwhile, GameSpot, while not completely enchanted with the presentation, put the voice work as it's first positive, calling it 'terrific':

". . .the game's audio is quite good, thanks especially to the excellent voice acting heard throughout the story. Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea) is great as the quiet, confident Colton White, and the main villains, played by Lance Henriksen (Aliens) and Brad Dourif (Deadwood), sound at least as wicked and nasty as they look. "

The reviews across the board were mostly excellent and when they weren't the voice acting was usually singled out as the best, or one of the best, aspects of the game. The only real trouble the game had, besides average to above average sales, was a ban from the Association for American Indian Development, who signed a petition asking for the recall of the games due to, according to Wikipedia, "degrading and harmful content".

And if 2005, and Gun especially, was part of the beginning of changing the face of video games in terms of it's marketability, the Lance would once again become a part of it's second revolution in 2007.

Mass Effect (2007)

Every franchise goes through it's experimental stage and while Gun wasn't a world shattering project it made all the right moves. BioWare's Mass Effect, in 2007, was another game changer and Lance was luckily a part of it.

Mass Effect is a RPG enabling the player to control how scenes of dialogue play out and thus can control the story based on sometimes singular reactions to often minute details. Did you snap at someone when they asked you a question? They'll remember that the next time you speak to them. Did you flirt with the girl (or guy, depending on who you play) in your unit? S/he'll approach you less professionally on the next encounter.

What Mass Effect did was take a lot of the playing out and put more movie in but all for the better. Players became captivated by an epic story that, thanks to thousands of different possibilities, was replayable since every decision led to a series of different occurrences, resulting in three to four totally different stories within the same game.

The only way to pull off a dialogue heavy, action-lite game is to have some of the best voice actors around. Less true to the Hollywood-Video Game craze, Mass Effect went for more 'working' actors and allowed celebrities to fill side roles and supporting characters.

In many ways, this allows the player to identify with the main character since you can't match a face to the voice, and gives credibility to the smaller roles as they are voiced by well known and somewhat soothing characters.

Lance joined the Mass Effect team with Keith David in what would not be their final pairing. Marina Sirtis, of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame also joined the cast as did Seth Green, Armin Shimmerman, and Robin Atkin Downes.

Oddly Lance's job was audio only and what I mean by that is that Lance's role, of Admiral Hackett, was not actually seen but simply heard. Appearing at the games opening and closing act and throughout side missions non essential to the game, Lance provides a gravitas that keeps you interested even when straying from the main storyline.

Mass Effect is essentially open world but there is a major story arc, taken at your own discretion. You control a Commander named Shepard. You have the luxury of deciding the sex, first name, and the appearance, making the character utterly unique to your experience. This, of course, has existed in sports games for years but to see a recreation of a character you create in movie-like cut scenes and doing what you want and how you want is quite compelling.

Anyways, you guide Shepard through a fully fleshed out universe, complete with in game back story and an immense mythology, on a quest to stop a maniacal alien (called a Turian) named Saren from opening up a gateway from another dimension that will release creatures perhaps responsible for out existence. To reveal anymore would be giving too much away.

The RPG is nothing new but Mass Effect's seemingly built in familiarity and confidence in it's mythology made the game, originally an XBox 360 only release, an immense hit. Sales figure are always hard to pin down but Mass Effect has sold at least 2+ million, making it a 'Platinum Hit' bestseller for the XBox 360. Eventually, the game was released to different platforms.

And critics loved the game too. Up to Mass Effect's release, the game was clearly Lance's most decorated and well received. Hardly a review can be found that isn't in the A+/90%/90 out of 100 area of critique. And while winning loads of 'Best of' awards from numerous organizations and video game award shows, the most impressive, according to Wikipedia, at least for voice actors like Lance, is Gamespot's 'Best Voice Acting' award in it's 2007 year in review.

On a personal note, Mass Effect is my all time favorite game. The grand storytelling, the picture perfect design, and epic mythology makes for something special for game players everywhere. I won't lie. Combined with the first sequel, I've played in the Mass Effect universe for close to 200 hours.

Now a full blown media franchise (there are comics, books, sequels to the games, apps, and soundtracks of music. . .of which I own all of the above), Mass Effect 3, now in production, is highly anticipated by more then just me.

Yes, there was a Mass Effect 2. But Lance wasn't invited. Well, sort of. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Transformers Animated (2008)

We close this first part analysis on a bit part Lance played in a Nintendo DS-only game called Transformers Animated: The Game.

The notable part of this game is that for the first time (and not the last) Lance would get to reincarnate a character he acted in a different medium. His transformer, Lockdown, was a character in the Transformers Animated TV show, of which the game is based.

Lance is once again a Non-Player Character (a character you only interact with) and his role is considerably scaled down compared to Mass Effect and Lance's 'starring' roles. But Lance had already participated in one game that changed the face of voice acting and it did exceptionally well both critically and commercially.

He hadn't seen nuthin' yet. And neither had we.

To Be Continued. . .

Nostalgia Bath #2: Star Trek The Next Generation: 'Starship Mine'

2011-05-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Star Trek, and most of it's incarnations, are praised for what they stand for. However, they are also criticized for the somewhat archaic and unflinching dedication to Gene Roddenberry's vision that earns it said praise. It's sort of a paradox, and as time has gone by it seems Star Trek, in it's original incarnation, is seen as valuable only by the dedicated few.

JJ Abrams did a good job of making sure Star Trek, as a franchise, was profitable again BUT he also took out the heart and soul of the franchise, that which held it apart from most, if not all, great science-fiction: the ability to speak to us as human beings.

Yes, Roddenberry's world is surprisingly limited in terms of scope and only one series (DS9) found a way to break out of the 'system' that Star Trek created and Star Trek: The Next Generation continued while still honoring it's foundation and general thesis.

Shows like Star Trek: Voyager ignored the dramatic progress and storytelling evolution Deep Space Nine took and went backwards, instead going back to an admittedly effective but overused formula. This led to it's demise as Voyager looked like a carbon copy of carbon copy of the original and never captured the mainstream fanfare of TOS or TNG.

By the time producers realized Star Trek was a decaying and beaten horse, Enterprise came along and pushed too far against the grain, introducing cheap laughs and cheap sexuality and, as expected, the franchise, effectively, died.

When it comes to Star Trek: The Next Generation, I tend to view it as it was and not how it is perceived now. Many see TNG as limiting in storytelling, light on complex characters, and behind the times. And while I won't get into specifics here, TNG, during it's initial run, was revolutionary and helped change the shape of science-fiction television.

It appears as a template now basically because it spawned the ability for people to push the idea further and further and develop it into something more complex. I give TNG a pass also in the fact that it is an updated copy of the original series. TNG, yes, is a bit more clean and happy, antiseptic in a way, but it's intentions are in the title: The Next Generation. It's the next incarnation of the original.

But even TNG had to break away when possible and that brings us to today's featured episode 'Starship Mine', an episode that serves to push TNG out of it's standard formula and to give series star Patrick Stewart something to punch.

The plot of 'Starship Mine' is about as original as Die Hard. In Die Hard, you had a police officer alone in a building (hosting a party) that is suddenly taken over by, at first political idealists who we realize to really be money hungry thugs. In 'Starship Mine', we have a starship officer alone on his ship (while his colleagues are in a party on a planet) that is suddenly taken over by, at first, political terrorists who we then realize are money hungry thugs. Oh, and both lead characters in both mediums are named John (okay, well, Picard is Jean-Luc. . .it's pronounced John. . .oh nevermind). . .

It was well known at the time that Patrick Stewart wanted to me more then just the diplomat. He made it quite clear early in the show's run that he wanted more 'sex and shooting' (his words) and, every now and then, TNG would throw Picard a bone by, well, letting him bone. And occasionally he'd shoot someone or punch something.

But, on the whole, Picard was still the emotionally quiet, diplomatic negotiator. And by season six (of a seven season run), Stewart had enough. And thus we get 'Starship Mine' which, in it's teleplay, describes the entire evolution of Picard and Stewart's wishes in 45 grand minutes.

For example, the episode opens with Picard getting approached by every single member of the crew and asked to handle an issue. Picard, as always, remains diplomatic, but you can see the facade starting to crack. He starts to close his eyes in frustration, clench his fists, even sigh a large sigh. . .basically everything but do an epic facepalm.

See, Picard is not only bored with being the person who handles everything, he also doesn't want to go to this party held by this Commander guy. See, the Commander guy loves to small talk and bores everyone to death. So, once again, Picard has to be diplomatic and be pleasant when, really, he wants to punch stuff. Okay, well, he wants to ride horses. . .but still. . .he wants to be a MAN! Enough with this captaining crap for one bloody episode.

He does get a chance to ride a horse (and get out of the party) but, naturally, he forgot his saddle on the ship which has been abandoned due to some technobabble science-fictiony particle fumigation thing, so, he goes back to the ship and stumbles upon a bunch of terrorists trying to steal some materials form the ship's engines (don't ask) that could be used to make deadly weapons.

Thus Picard, through walkie talkies, er communicators, goes through the ship, in his chaps, riding shirt, and leather pants (the equivalent of Die Hard's bare feet) and takes out the terrorists one by one while taunting the terrorist leader.

What can't you love about this episode? Picard not only purposefully slaughters one terrorist by tricking him into a trap involving that fumigation thing (which is also deadly, by the way) but he makes explosives out of medical equipment, carries a crossbow, and punches a woman a few times! This is about as un-Roddenberry as you can get.

And while the episode is anti-Roddenberry and, certainly, anti-Picard, it is loads of fun. Being the 143rd episode of the show's run, it was time the TNG staff let their hair down a little, succumbed to Stewart's demands for heroic action, and changed the formula.

In fact, the episode is surprisingly cruel as well as action-packed. While Picard doesn't outright kill all the terrorists (no chain choking or knee machine gunnin'), he does, without his usual Picard discretion, trick a terrorist into dying and allows a highly dangerous explosive to go off, close to the ship, with the main terrorist holding it.

And the surprising violence doesn't just extend to or from Captain Picard. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) is shot by the 24th century equivalent of a shotgun, the really annoying but ultimately harmless small talking Commander is murdered in cold blood, a sympathetic, nerdy, and also harmless terrorist is slain by the terrorist leader, and Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), while providing a distraction, is beaten (which, I'm sure, pleases some people).

It is this slightly morbid approach to the usually squeaky clean TNG universe that makes 'Starship Mine' rather enjoyable. It just goes to show that while we see TNG, in general, as rather clean and shiny and, perhaps, a little outdated, it is nice to see the show stuff the stereotype down the viewer's throat, if only for one episode.

'Starship Mine' is the type of off-kilter Trek experience you don't forget, especially as time flies and perception of a once beloved property begins to dim.

Movie Commentary: The Mist (2007)

2011-04-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Paxton Configuration is now active on iTunes and at Libsyn.

Download the commentary for the cult favorite The Mist where I am joined by Michael Alatorre, also known as Le0pard13, the writer and commentator for It Rains. . .You Get Wet and Lazy Thoughts From a Boomer.

We examine the career of Frank Darabont, the genius casting of the film, how awesome Bill Sadler is, the differences between the novella and the film itself, the genre of horror and how The Mist fights against it, and that pesky ending.

Please subscribe to the podcast and write a review. Send comments, feedback, or harassment to secureimmaturity at gmail dot com.

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All About Eve

2011-04-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

All About Eve, the classic 1950 film nominated for 14 Academy Awards (and winner of six), is a film I've long wanted to sit down and watch. A recent 'staycation' allowed me to do it and while I expected a classic film, for sure, I wasn't expecting something so masterful and addicting.

Because All About Eve goes beyond simply being a 'classic' film. No, it was a film that went so far ahead of it's time that timeless wouldn't be a fair enough descriptor. In fact, no adjectives can fully give justice to this masterpiece of a film, a film that, upon viewing in 2011, no less, I can and will consider one of the greatest films ever made.

Classic films have their pros and they have their cons but what makes a classic last is the watchability as the decades go by. Much like Citizen Kane, which blows the viewer away with how 'advanced' it is, All About Eve, while appearing as normal as any 50s film would (nothing fancy with the cinematography or editing here), uses writing and acting to defy the time period and predate the revolutionary changes made to film content in the 1960s and 1970s.

All About Eve appears to be a romantic drama, a cliche rags to riches story even; a film for the family to enjoy on a lazy weekend. This only appears to be true on the surface however as All About Eve is borderline satirical and an extremely dark, nearly sinister, character piece with enough shocking twists and turns to make David Mamet wet his pants.

I've seen my share of classics, sure, but no film below the 1970s line has ever made me hit pause and actually speak to myself with amazement. When the superb Bette Davis says 'buckle your seat belts', she wasn't kidding: All About Eve is some of the finest dramatic storytelling you will find in ANY cinema, not just in the classic era.

To start, there is, of course, the acting. Finding a nuanced performance in a classic film is tough. There was a more caricature-based approach to film acting back then mainly because the film medium, in it's early years, wasn't about tricking the audience or being complex, but of telling 'heart on the sleeve' stories that audiences all around could understand.

To this day, I have seen three 'modern' performances in the classic era (and please post any you've seen not listed as I am an amateur when it comes to classics). The first is Orson Welles in Citizen Kane. He created, in my opinion, method acting (though many think that went to the 50s set, like Brando and Dean). The second is Yul Brenner in The Ten Commandments. I had never seen a villain played so against type before. Brenner's performance was so subtle, calm, and unlike anything you'd ever seen at the time (no moustache twirling or histrionics) that it was breathtaking.

And the third is Bette Davis as Margo Channing, an aged actress finding herself embracing not only the decline of her youth but the decline of a career, as stage directors want to see more youth. Margo is a near drunkard, spoiled brat who is slowly starting to realize she is making a fool of herself and has no where to go once the theater is taken from her.

And nothing is left out in the study of her character. For one, Davis herself is an odd animal. Not exactly beautiful but impossible to look away from, she truly is, physically, one of a kind. But she is aging and that comes under fire, not just from a theater perspective but from a life and gender perspective as well.

The idea of what it is to be a woman, especially in a man's world (men write, direct, and write about the plays in the newspapers; women just perform) is examined and Margo realizes she sacrificed the benefits of being a woman (in some cases, the privileges of being a women as well, like childbirth) to play in the man's world. She even wouldn't marry because it would hold her down.

This world changing revelation (the young becoming old, the employed and glamorous becoming unemployed and no longer in demand) is put into stark contrast with the character of Eve herself, played with adorable subservience by Anne Baxter.

Eve is a theater junkie obsessed with Margo and, through all kinds of luck and perhaps fate, ends up, at first, a border of Margo, then a romantic rival, then a stage rival, and finally a sworn enemy. But the film does a great job of creating doubt between Margo and Eve's action, well, at least until a pivotal few scenes towards the end of the film.

Is Margo deserving of further pampering as she is often too independent for her own good and is Eve truly deserving of advancement (and replacement) at the expense of Margo. Or is Eve an unintentional assassin to the likes of Margo, ready to succeed because she happens to be young and beautiful.

All About Eve doesn't tip toe around this especially. Though this is clearly a film and the main aspects of the film are surrounding the theater and it's decay (in some cases to Hollywood itself), the idea of perfection and youth was (and is) an issue prevalent in Hollywood as well. Almost by accident, the film points this out in one of it's more famous scenes.

Many will remember All About Eve, if they haven't seen it, as a trivia item. Marilyn Monroe makes a minor appearance here. A terrible actress but a bombshell beauty, Monroe shares a scene with the legendary Davis. Monroe is terrible but looks great and her sole purpose in the scene is to be dumb and look beautiful. . .or, as one character notes, 'do herself some good' career wise by flirting with directors.

All About Eve ends up promoting it as well. I guarantee you nine out of ten people know who Marilyn Monroe is. But Bette Davis? Anne Baxter?

Now I won't spoil the ending for anybody, as it must be seen to be believed, but All About Eve starts out as a fairly comical drama focusing on gender and age issues but ends up becoming a dark journey into the human mind and the quest for power. Be prepared: good guys become villains and back again while no one is as they seem. Even a sociopath shows up. . .a little surprising considering what you see up to that person's appearance.

All About Eve certainly isn't forgotten though I feel it's message and before-its-time writing and acting is. I thought All About Eve was just one of those 'classics' you know? A great film from a previous time. But I found something better then that: I found something meaningful to the soul that back in 1950 and even in 2050 can be viewed without a societal filter.

It truly is a masterpiece I recommend seeing. And if anyone wishes to discuss the film in the comment section below, I'd love to.

Geek Lineage #1: MST3K The Movie

2011-04-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Geek Lineage is an attempt to look at important (and geeky) moments in my life. Sometimes it might be a trip down nostalgia lane while, in some cases, it might be a look into how the Will you see before you was formed.

The Geek Year is 1996

It is pretty common for there to be moments in Hollywood film making where the product being produced is an absolute flesh-burning piece of hurt that puts all involved in straight-jackets an even takes people's lives. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was one of those experiences for the creators/writers/actors/etc (who all happened to be the same people).

Oddly, the resulting product, while only partially resembling the television show on which it was based, is a wonderful thing, full of wit and whimsy and, for me, wonderful memories.

MST3K was a show I initially started watching in 1990 because it had a 'talking reindeer with a funny voice in the corner'. My young, eight year old mind couldn't really process the deep, worldly comedy of MST3K but I was obsessed with it all the same.

Twenty years later and I am still watching MST3K on a nightly basis: it helps put me to sleep. When the day is rough and I need to relax, the voices of Joel/Mike, Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, Magic Voice, and Dr. F and TV's Frank help me escape and laugh.

1996 was the height of MST3K mania. It was wildly popular on Comedy Central (a lot of people don't know but Comedy Central was essentially launched and maintained by MST3K until their model of programming changed), conventions were happening, college circuits existed, books were published, and television specials were produced.

And somewhere in this mania was a film, a simple 74 minute film based on the TV show, that drove the innovative show runners mad (for full satiric examples, watch Season 7's episode The Incredible Melting Man), evaded, due to heavy editing and studio demands, the heart of the show, and fudged with the concept. If MST3K: The TV Show is the main event in the DC Universe, as an example, then MST3K: The Movie is almost an Elseworlds entry. . .something MST3K but not.

But, once again, the Movie is a consistent reminder of joy for me as I was young (about 14 or 15) and didn't read into things very much. To me, seeing MST3K: The Movie was a gift from heaven. Well, it almost wasn't because, along with the endless editing/content nightmares, MST3K: The Movie was slaughtered in distribution, only opening in 26 theaters. That's 26 theaters in the entire WORLD!

Living in Tampa, Florida, we naturally didn't get MST3K: The Movie in the local cinema (or art house) since Tampa folks consider motor home sculpture art and take pride in having the world's largest Confederate flag. No, no. . .I'd have to travel about three or four hours away to see the movie and, I figured, it would take some serious pleading to get my parents to take me.

It didn't. My parents are awesome. They knew I loved MST3K and they agreed, on the spot, to drive four hours away (I couldn't tell you the name of the town now) to a small art house in the middle of nowhere Florida, to see MST3K: The Movie while they saw Cold Comfort Farm or something.

The art house I went to was MST3K'd out. They offered a set of trading cards that I still own and cherish (see below):

And they had a full set of MST3K pins, in which my parents agreed to get me two (I believe they were expensive):

I got the Crow and Gypsy pins and I had them until 2005 when I gave them, foolishly, to the then love of my life Lauren who was also a massive MST3K fan. She cheated on me, dumped me, and took the pins with her. May they be maintained with the utmost care. Despair, you're soaking in it (as the MST3K bots would love to say).

Anyways, armed with two awesome pins, nine awesome cards, and the euphoria of seeing MST3K: The Movie in a theater (something not many folks can claim to say they've done), I entered the 10 row theater and sat down on the aisle, ready to enjoy the show.

No one came. Of the maybe 100 seats in the theater, there were only about 10 people there. What was great was that they were all couples. I was too young to think this was sweet but, looking back, I liked the idea of two kindred souls enjoying something smart and funny together. It's almost like the fusion of like-minds connecting with this very impressive individuals making you think puppets are three-dimensional and real.

The crowd, as small as it was, was fantastic. We all pointed at the screen when we saw the hidden MANOS reference. We all snickered at Crow's antics, Servo's deadpan, Gypsy's squeaky voice, and the somewhat mainstream but still hilarious one-liners that were coming at a break neck pace.

My most memorable moment, though, was when the end credits rolled. Unlike most films, Mike and the 'Bots went into the theater to review the credits (as only they can). The crowd had this energy about them like we DID NOT want the experience to end. We held onto those three or four minutes until the very end. No one even stirred. In fact, and I've never seen this before, the crowd just stayed seated as the lights came on. We literally didn't want this to stop.

Lot's of amazing, more important things have happened to me since then, but no matter how many times I've seen it, MST3K: The Movie perseveres, mainly because even if the jokes lose their edge after so much exposure, that special 'something' has never worn off.

Nostalgia Bath #1: Law and Order: "Prescription for Death"

2011-04-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

As of April 9th, 2011, there have been (or currently are) six major television series under the Law and Order brand. Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off of the original show, is in the middle of it's 12th season and has provided prime time with 269 episodes.

Criminal Intent, the black sheep of the family (and my favorite), has produced 187, with eight final episodes on the way. Trial by Jury lasted only 13 episodes before cancellation while Los Angeles initially struggled but plans to continue after the first season. And the UK version, currently at 26 episodes, is doing well across the pond.

This is, of course, due to the original show, which, after 20 noble seasons, was cancelled, but not before plunking down 456 total episodes. All in all, between the six major series, Law and Order is a media juggernaut that has stayed on the air, non-stop, and sometimes simultaneously, for 46 seasons (bringing the episode total to 959. . .and counting; this doesn't count the 'lesser' market versions, such as spin-offs in Russia and France).

But like most things, a long running and undoubtedly seminal television program becomes less unique as it gets taken into the cultural zeitgeist. Everyone knows what Law and Order, in its most basic form, is by now. . .but a lot of people don't actually know what it is about, really. The subtlety and complexity of the average episode gets a bit lost.

When you get invested in Law and Order, the original series, you aren't getting invested for deep character drama. In the end, you are watching highly fictionalize stories 'ripped from the headlines' that follow a basic structure: First, cops investigate a crime and second, defense attorneys prosecute.

The endings are usually predictable but Law and Order, in ALL of its creations, aim to surprise you by the HOW. HOW do the investigators get their leads and make their arrests? HOW do the prosecutors make their case? HOW do they make a breakthrough in the court room. Slyly, we learn a bit about the cops and the lawyers, but the drama lies in the action.

The other versions of Law and Order have fiddled with the concept a bit. Purists, like my friend Tony, just hate anything that's not like the original. However, for generations who didn't see Law and Order when it first aired (like myself), the other shows offer interesting perspectives and just happen to add a little human drama to the mix.

My favorite show, Criminal Intent, not only takes the 'mystery' out by often showing the criminals actually committing crime, but the Detectives lives are often thrown in the balance. Special Victims Unit, probably the franchise' most popular series since the first (and even during the first series later run), has also messed with the character vs. plot drama.

No matter your taste, all the spin offs and little fixes come because Law and Order existed first, and it's Can't-Lose formula prevailed for 20 years. There is a comfort food to Law and Order when you think about it from a surface level. But if you really watch Law and Order, especially the early seasons, there is something special at work. You can see why so many series and episodes have been produced under the brand and why the original, as 'simple' as it is to describe, went on for so long.

The key is always the 'ripped from the headlines' nature. By taking stories consumed by large groups AND varying in effect on the audience, every week is a home run for someone. So where did Law and Order start and what was the story?

The original pilot was called 'Everybody's Favorite Bagman' but, like a lot of other network television shows, the pilot was moved around and ended up airing sixth in the original lineup. The first episode aired (and thus episode 1 in any episode guide) was 'Prescription for Death'.

In the episode, a young girl is admitted to the hospital for a basic malady but ends up dead. Enough witnesses, and the girl's medic father, see that there was an issue between the attending physicians that night and an error was made that perhaps wasn't a simple mistake.

Detectives Logan (Chris Noth) and Greevey (George Dzundza) decide to investigate and discover that the physicians at the hospital fear their boss, Dr. Edward Auster, because of his high standing in the city but know he has a drinking problem and may have prescribed the wrong medication to the dead girl.

After gathering enough evidence, it is up to Executive A.D.A. Stone (Michael Moriarty) and A.D.A. Robinette (Richard Brooks) to prosecute, using Auster's drinking history and arrogance against his charisma and city-wide acclaim that makes his indictment for murder seem far fetched.

The 'headlines' this was 'ripped' from was an actual case involving a girl named Libby Zion. Her death, and the following litigation surrounding it, was far less dramatic in terms of court intrigue but did create a revision in the US Health Code, named, fittingly, the Libby Zion Rule, that forever changed the way interns and residents in hospitals were supervised and how long they worked.

In Zion's case, overworked residents/interns were taking care of too many cases and were supervised by only one experienced Doctor. The Doctor may have prescribed the wrong medication or the tired residents may have mixed up their results, but, regardless, Libby Zion died due to the wrong medication entering her system and exacerbating small symptoms she had for a different, entirely harmless problem.

The case went through state and civil trials, all resulting in harsh fees for the residents and the hospital, but no one was actually found guilty of murder. However, the resulting fiasco (over five years of litigation and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages given to the Zion family) led to the Libby Zion Rule, the aforementioned change in the US Health Code, that limited resident hours and assigned more experienced doctors to be available to help residents out.

Law and Order added a little drama to the proceedings by making ONE doctor a gloriously arrogant dick who thought he could control his drinking, and whose drinking led, directly, to the death of a person.

This, obviously, meets the demands of network television. The 'ripped from the headlines' concept aids in adding drama to the proceedings but still does, in one way or another, shed light on real life issues. And Law and Order does that by not only showing those real life issues in the court room but with the fictional characters and their back stories as well, allowing opinion to enter the piece.

The topics involved in 'Prescription for Death' are negligence, especially when it comes to drinking. The best part of the episode is when the Detectives and Prosecutors discuss what is considered appropriate drinking and if you can be drunk without acting drunk.

Despite popular belief that Law and Order isn't about character, we find out loads of detail about Logan, Greevey, and Stone, as well as Logan and Greevey's captain, Donald Cragen (Dann Florek). All contrasting views but all revelatory of not just the character's back story, but of the complications of high-pressure, life or death jobs of physicians and cops.

Logan wonders how many drinks he can have while carrying and handling a gun? Cragen explains how he once thought he was acting normal but was waving a gun around. Stone knows what a drunk looks like since he saw his dad get drunk every at lunch. Little personal quirks added to the general proceedings add to the complexity that is often forgotten in Law and Order.

Any show has it's clunkers and Law and Order, especially as it started hitting the double digit numbers, certainly fell into certain patterns, but, in the end, Law and Order was a show that started a phenomenon, and it started it for a reason: good cases, compelling background, and stories that relate to the everyday people. It all started with 'Prescription for Death'. . .and it hasn't ended yet.

Talk Radio

2011-04-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

Though I don't go out of my way to do it, if I'm driving late at night, I'll turn on the AM dial on my car radio and check out what late-night/early morning America has to say. Between the hours of midnight and 4:30 A.M., it is never NOT interesting.

Radio is an interesting medium mainly for the fact that it is both antiquated and patient. I am a big fan of talk radio: I like to engage, even if I am just listening, to conversations on topics I enjoy. Sure, there is the morning show set that blast through news stories and then play a new hit, but TRUE talk radio is one of, well, what I listen to anyways, intellect; hell, some of it is near philosophy.

A lot of detractors of talk radio (usually bimbos or simpletons) say it is too boring and dull. I find this grating. Talk radio gives me time to hear like minds (or complete opposites) discuss that which is important. But, naturally, there is also the inherent need to talk about stuff that is far from important.

Though most of us aren't exhibitionists, we like to live vicariously through people who don't have censors. And while reality TV has ushered in the Era of the Idiot, radio has and STILL brings out the mad genius of crazy. . .and shock jocks who now how to manipulate it bring completely entertaining, completely un-newsworthy madness to the air.

Sometimes, in those four or five late hours, the true crazies come out of the woodwork. And while what the crazies are saying ISN'T important in itself, the fact that we are hearing it IS. As hunter-gatherers by nature, humans form groups and cliques and tend to stick, mostly, to their own comfort zones. Late night radio allows us to engage, listen, and learn about other sections of America.

This idea is what Eric Bogosian, actor and playwright, tried to capture in his play Talk Radio. Originally written (and performed) in 1987, Bogosian, playing the lead role, wrote a Day-in-the-Life love note to the radio platform and the people that both work for it and use it.

His main character, Barry Champlain, is, as Bogosian says in his introduction to his printed play, 'an indignant and enraged crusader, a man who sees through all the lies and hypocrisy and 'tells it like it is',". Bogosian, who played Champlain in the original performances and in the film, wrote Champlain as a man who preaches ideals but is often confused on where he really stands.

The play is not exactly light-hearted but it is a personal journey. We see Barry as a man detached from reality and almost consumed with his views yet not sure if the views are his or attached to some need to keep his ratings up. Through his producing core we discover Barry is on edge and a bit aloof. But by play's end, and one tricky bit of paranoia involving a gun/camera, the play ends as it begins: with Barry content (in his own way) and life going on as normal.

The play succeeds in finding that slice of Americana (like the kind I search for during late night drives) and providing us a view of it from one corner of the world (in this case, Cleveland). Barry is tortured by philosophy and meaning but is relatively safe. When it came time for the movie version, again written by Bogosian but this time with an assist by director Oliver Stone, Talk Radio takes on a more sinister tone.

Having read the play first, I was a bit disturbed, at first, by how drastic the change was. The play, as mentioned before, was a day in the life with only emotional danger (at the most) at bay. The film version, released in 1988, takes real life elements and adds them to Champlain's personal paranoia. Instead of a general malaise that the play gives off, the film version places the viewer in a place of dread. . .you're just waiting for the shoe to drop.

This, of course, means adding actual physical danger to Champlain. This method takes the fun out of Talk Radio (the play is witty and energetic, almost playful) but, as the play before it, it teaches us a lesson about America and our human ability to talk. So though the heart of the play is changed, the movie still has an impact.

Because of the tone change, Barry is less eccentric and more manic. He is clearly on a downward spiral and it leads, masterfully, to a revelation that not only let's off steam but makes the very ending, which would be considered a cop-out if it wasn't based on a true event, epically tragic.

While about half the plot of Talk Radio is based on the play, the other half is based on the life of radio shock jock Alan Berg. Berg was Jewish and often pissed off callers with views that, due to stereotyping, made Jews look bad. Berg's tendency to rile up white supremacist's did him in as he was murdered, shot 12 times, by members of The Order, a white supremacist group named after a similar group in the all-racist, ultra-violent book The Turner Diaries.

Talk Radio leaves no doubt, as soon as dead rats and Nazi flags show up, where it is headed and it makes Barry's journey of self discovery and pseudo-madness all the more engrossing: will he change his life before he dies? Will he die? And when? And how?

An Awesome Clip from Talk Radio (SFW)

He stares at Barry maniacally and walks off. Throughout the next five minutes, however, Stone has the man walk back and forth in the crowd, just barely in view, behind Barry, still staring. Coupled with a scene just minutes earlier in which a southern-sounding caller says he sent a bomb to the studio (Barry opens it to find a dead rat and a Nazi flag instead), this feeling of claustrophobia is nearly unbearable.

A third element is introduced in flashback: it is a love angle, kind of, mixed with elements of Howard Stern's rise to fame (even down to the haircut). This is perhaps the most hopefully section of the movie though it is used mainly to illustrate Barry's once complete life and how he screwed it up.

Overall, the mixture of Bogosian's original play, Stone's intense paranoia, and the touching before-after portrait, makes for a great film, as long as you don't have a preference for the play over the film. Once again, the differences between the two is quite shocking. Both have something to say, they just got about it in different ways and at different intellectual levels; the play approaching satire with an acerbic wit, the movie quite realistic with a tragic humor.

The good thing about having two drastically different takes on the same material is that you can get two different views on the same topic. The play serves its purpose while the movie does the material justice from another angle. Both are pleasurable, one will just make you wary of what's behind the next corner.