Holy Ultraviolence, Batman!

Movies: Super

The movie Super, starring Rainn Wilson (who, for those living under a rock, is Dwight from The Office) and Ellen Page (Juno) is...something else. It is outrageous. It is disturbing. It takes the superhero movie tropes and subverts them in ways that make the audience cringe and laugh--sometimes simultaneously.

Wilson plays Frank D'Arbo, a mild-mannered man whose drug addict wife, Sarah, (Liv Tyler) leaves him for a flashy drug dealer, Jacques (Kevin Bacon, who is EXCELLENT in this funny, supporting role). A man who is used to being humiliated and kicked around his whole life, Frank can't take the thought of losing his love. He prays to God to find a way to win back Sarah, and has a bizarre vision/dream in which God splits open his skull and touches his brain. In this vision/dream, Frank sees The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion, in another AWESOME supporting role), a sort of "Bibleman" TV character who fights the devil with the power of God. The Holly Avenger cryptically Frank that some of God's children are "chosen".



Frank doesn't quite understand the meaning of this vision until he visits a comic book store and meets Libby (Ellen Page), who wonders out loud why no regular people step up and start fighting crime, superhero-style. Frank then realizes his calling. He makes himself a costume, renames himself The Crimson Bolt, and uses a wrench to bash bad guys on the head. That is his superpower--the ability to brain people with a wrench.

Soon, Libby catches on to Frank and declares herself his kid sidekick, Boltie. It becomes clear that Libby is a violent sociopath who is all too eager to hurt, maim, and even kill the mildest of wrongdoers (such as the jerk who keyed her friend's car). This is all part of the overarching joke of the film--the punishment Frank and Libby deal out doesn't always fit the crime. It's all fun, games, and justice when Frank bashes a child molester on the head, but when he does the same thing to a guy who cuts in line at the movies, we realize that this is more a movie about psychosis than crime fighting.

The fact that Frank and Libby have no sense of proportion and every sense of entitlement gives the film its uncomfortable edge. We have to wonder: is Frank really just an average guy looking to do good, or is he delusional and psychotic? There is a scene where Frank prays to God, asking if he should keep being the Crimson Bolt (and possibly get caught by the police) or if he should throw it all away. He pauses then prays "Did you tell me to throw it all away, or did I just think that in my head?" They should show this clip in churches everywhere. Frank *thinks* he is ordained by God to fight crime...but really, isn't he just justifying what he wants to do by supposedly seeing signs from God wherever he looks? And doesn't that make his over eager crime fighting all the more dangerous--because he believes God is giving him a mission to do so?

Super is a disturbing movie because it screws with your expectations. You see the marquee saying "Rainn Wilson" and "Ellen Page" and you think, "Ok, nerdy guy fights crime in a cute, precocious indie film!"...but you get a couple of scarily violent wackos, disturbing sex scenes (there is a scene where Ellen Page rapes* Rainn Wilson...it is hands down the weirdest sex scene I have ever encountered), and humor so dark and black...there's not much you can do except gasp and laugh. I've seen very few movies like this.

And that's why I loved it. But, I think it can easily be said that this movie is NOT for everyone.

4.5 out of 5 stars

* Ok, so in this scene, Libby attempts to seduce Frank, who is adamant that he doesn't want to have sex with her (he still considers himself married and faithful to his wife, Sarah). But Libby basically just mounts him and, uh, has her way with him despite his repeated exhortations of "No!" and attempts to buck her off. He eventually gives in. I really don't think this scene is played for laughs because it's just too bizarre and disturbing. I think the director wanted to show how insane and scary Libby actually is. Some people will argue that men can't be raped by women because they have to be..ahem...aroused for the act to be consummated. But since when does sexual arousal equal consent? Anyway, I just had to discuss it because I've never seen a sex scene like this one.

Beautiful Souls

Movies: Jane Eyre

Full disclosure: I read about 2/3 of Jane Eyre in college. While I know the basic story, I am by no means an expert on the book, its historical context, its author, etc. So I can't really compare the Bronte novel to this particular film adaptation.

Taken as is, the 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre is scenic, well-acted, and slow-moving. It is a quintessential "adult" movie--not in the X-rated sense, but in the sense that you need to have patience and intelligence to unpack this film. Jane Eyre is dense and internal. People tend to think of it as a straightforward love story between Jane, the "poor, obscure, plain, and little" governess and Mr. Rochester, her gruff and tormented employer; but in actuality, Jane Eyre is more about self-actualization and self-respect than anything else. The love story is second to the story of a young girl developing moral character and an older man finding grace in humility. But humility and moral character don't exactly make for an exciting story.



This film adaptation seems well cast. Mia Wasikowska, known for her work in Alice in Wonderland and The Kids Are Alright, is a perfect Jane. Unlike previous actresses who have played Jane, Wasikowska is about the same age as the character she portrays (Wasikowska is 20, and Jane is around 19 at the end of the book). She also embodies the "plain and little" aspect of Jane. While Wasikowska certainly has an ethereal beauty, without makeup and in dowdy dresses she captures the modesty of Jane--a woman who is the definition of "inner beauty".

Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank) plays Rochester--and although he is definitely younger and more handsome than previous incarnations, he captures the tormented, angry man who sees in Jane a way out of his self-inflicted emotional hell. He is initially wry and sarcastic toward Jane--not cruel, but not kind. Later, he is passionately devoted to her, but he screws it up by concealing a major, major part of his life from her--a secret revealed at the worst possible moment. Only at the end of the film, when he has lost nearly everything, is he finally worthy of Jane's love. Fassbender captures the pride, passion, and inner turmoil of this fascinating character.

In a time period where men ruled over women, sometimes with love and a protective hand, other times with an iron fist, Bronte created a male character who must learn to be humble in order to win a woman's love. No wonder the book was scandalous when it was first published! Jane really is a proto-feminist. Although she desperately loves Rochester, when she finds out about his deception (those who have read the book or seen a film adaptation know what I'm talking about!), her only choice is to leave him. As she puts it: "I must respect myself". This sentiment makes the film seem very old-fashioned. In a world where capitalism and immediate self-gratification are the norm, for someone to have moral convictions they stick to, even when it hurts like hell, seems quaint and prudish. But this adaptation of Jane Eyre sees beyond this surface self-denial--Jane's spirit and moral character ultimately serve as her liberation. No matter how poorly and unfairly she is treated by others, she can still hold her head up. And in the end, dear reader, she still gets to marry her man.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Southern Inhospitality

Books: Georgia Bottoms

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

So I guess there is a sub-genre of literature that can be called "Southern Lit". Everything from the Sookie Stackhouse books (I am an avid fan) to books by Joshilyn Jackson, Rebecca Walker, and Fannie Flagg, to more classic fare such as Flannery O'Conner and Thomas Wolfe. These books "take the pulse" of the South and capture the sultry heat, the slow pace of life, and the less savory aspects of the culture of Dixie.



Georgie Bottoms falls squarely into this category. Mark Childress made his name as an author of southern sensibilities with his 1994 novel Crazy in Alabama (since made into a movie starring Melanie Griffith) and more recently with One Mississippi in 2007. I expected to like Georgia Bottoms a lot, and indeed, I was entertained. But the characters are so loathsome in their selfish, two-faced, mind-bogglingly racist attitudes that it was hard to  care for, let alone identify with a single character. I wonder if Childress was simply making a blanket statement about Southerners--that they are liars, hypocrites, and so self-absorbed that Scarlett O'Hara herself would be shocked. But it seems that Childress, a Southerner himself, would be able to paint a more sympathetic--or at least nuanced--portrait of small-town Southern life. Or maybe Childress was just trying to create a main character and secondary characters that were realistic and far from saintly. I'm not sure.

Georgia Bottoms is the name of the main character. She is a Southern lady of a certain age (mid-thirties), unmarried, beautiful, and living in the small town of Six Points, Alabama. In order to get by, Georgia has not one, not, two, not three--but SIX beaus (one for every day of the week, except Monday) who she entertains in exchange for "small gifts, freely given". When one of these men, the Baptist minister Eugene Hendrix, threatens to expose Georgia, she must do everything she can to keep her affairs private, or risk losing her livelihood--and her reputation.

The book has strange pacing. It begins in September of 2001, when Georgia's annual September luncheon is ruined by some business in New York City with some buildings falling down. Everyone is glued to their televisions and Georgia honestly wonders why everyone cares so much about these people in New York--these yankees--more than her luncheon. Selfish, yes, but I can relate. My first thought after I heard the news on 9/11 was that I hoped we'd get out of school early. It wasn't until much later that the gravity of the day's events sunk in.

Then the book suddenly skips to 2005. Georgia's life really is about to be blown apart by the arrival of a young, black man on Georgia's doorstop. This young man, as the reader can guess early on, is Georgia's half-black son she gave birth to when she was still a teenager. She never told anyone, and although she sent money to the boy's grandmother every month, she wanted no contact. A white lady with a secret black son would be quite a scandal even in 2005. This plot line is the meat of the book, and I have to say, I was put off by the barrage of racism. Georgia is decent to her son, despite abandoning him as a baby, but her attitude towards blacks is incredibly condescending. After her failed September luncheon, Georgia drives around town, looking to give all the food she prepared away. She tries to give the food to Madeline Roudy, a black pediatrician, whom she did not invite to the luncheon for fear of upsetting her extremely racist mother (Georgia's mother, not Madeline's). Of course, Madeline is incredulous at Georgia attempting to give her the uneaten food--and Georgia, for the life of her, doesn't understand why Madeline is so ungracious!

Later in the book, Georgia's mother, who is suffering the early stages of dementia, continually calls Nathan, Georgia's son, the n-word and threatens him with a pellet gun. I was thinking to myself, "is this really how the deep south is?" I've been assured by people who have lived in parts of Mississippi and Alabama that yes, this is the way it is--at least for certain small towns and certain generations of people. Ugh. The racism, sexism, and downright fear of anything "outside" the confines of the small town was layered on so thick, I thought the book was almost a parody of southern life. But I think Childress is attempting to lovingly criticize the culture he was born into. For me (and I'm no prejudice-free saint myself), it was off-putting.

Georgia Bottoms is a quick and entertaining read--however, I expected it to be fun, hilarious, and light-hearted. With the cruel, small-minded characters (a few of whom learn lessons, but for the most part don't change), I couldn't really find anything to laugh about.

3 out of 5 stars

Alternative Reality Bites

Movies: Source Code

Source Code might blow your mind, but it probably won't touch your heart.

This inventive film, directed by Duncan Jones and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is being touted as the next Inception.But Source Code doesn't measure up to Inception in two ways: special effects and emotional resonance. Still, Source Code is a fascinating film in its own right.

Like Inception, Source Code is concerned with the concept of alternative or parallel universes. In Inception, these parallel realities were dreams (inside dreams inside dreams) and in Source Code the parallel realities are different paths we could have taken in the past.



Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens, an army pilot shot down somewhere in Afghanistan. He wakes up to find himself strapped in a metallic pod of some sort, with some mysterious officials communicating with him via TV screen. Vera Farminga plays Captain Colleen Godwin. Godwin explains to Stevens that he is now part of "Operation Beleaguered Castle"--a project being developed by the Air Force that allows individuals to relive the last few minutes of another individual's life. Stevens' mission is to relive the last minutes of a man named Sean Fentress, who was on a commuter train in Chicago that was blown up by a terrorist. The army officials believe that the person who blew up the train is planning a bigger, far more deadly act of terrorism in the heart of Chicago. If Stevens can find who is responsible, they may be able to apprehend the terrorist before he can kill anyone else. So Stevens is sent back, again and again (comparisons to Groundhog's Day are apt), to discover the identity of the bomber.

Of course, Stevens is curious to know why he can't just try to disable the bomb or get the passengers safely off the train. Won't that save them? According to Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright, creepy and awesome here), the man behind this whole source code business, the answer is no. Those people have already died. Trying to save them would be pointless, because they would only be saved within the tiny microcosmic world of the source code.

Whatever that means. I think one of Souce Code's problems is that it doesn't explain the science behind the idea enough. We just have to take Dr. Rutledge at his word: it works this way because I say it does. Now stop asking questions and find the damn terrorist! Like Stevens, the audience doesn't have much to go on. It's not until the end, when Stevens--with the help of Godwin--disobeys Rutledge's orders, that we get to see what actually happens when Stevens tries to save the people on the train. And it's in these last minutes of the film where the philosophical meat lies: are we on a linear track in life? Or are there infinite paths we could have taken and infinite versions of ourselves who did take those paths?

Ultimately, Source Code is like a full-length episode of The Twilight Zone. It presents an intriguing, science fiction-y brain teaser and leaves you with something to think about, and maybe even haunt you, but it doesn't hit you in the gut. It doesn't affect your emotions. At least, it didn't affect MY emotions. Gyllenhaal's character is given a love interest because, hey, Gyllenhaal's a romantic leading man. If he's in a film, there better be smooching, whether the smoochee is a pretty girl (Michelle Monaghan in Source Code) or Heath Ledger. But seriously, the romantic subplot seemed kind of pointless and forced. There's only so much bonding that can occur in an 8-minute timespan, even if those 8 minutes are lived over and over. The other "emotional" message of the film lies in a question that Gyllenhaal literally asks Monaghan multiple times: "What would you do if you only had a minute to live?" The heartwarming answer, "I'd make those minutes count", suggest Jones trying to insert a carpe diem message into the film. But it doesn't work in this case because these people die in a terrorist attack. They were probably picking their noses and scratching their butts in the last seconds of their lives because they didn't expect to die.

Anyway, those are a few gripes I have with the film. But as far as movies go, Source Code isn't bad at all. The acting is very good--I love Gyllenhaal because he is able to bring sensitivity and vulnerability to traditionally masculine characters (cowboys, soldiers, viagra salesmen). The film is also suspenseful and never repetitive, despite the fact that Stevens is force to repeat those damn 8 minutes of Sean Fentress' life over and over again. Most importantly, Source Code has an interesting and unique premise that provides lots of food for thought. That's something you don't find in many movies. My beef is that this premise was not delved into nor fleshed out enough.

4 out of 5 stars

He's Got a Big, Sexy Brain

Movies: Limitless

Limitless was not as good, interesting, or thrilling as I expected it to be. Part of this, I think, is because someone in charge decided it was a good idea to let Bradley Cooper narrate the whole damn movie. Not just a little narration at the beginning and end to frame the film, but the whole. damn. movie. We are treated to long bouts of exposition where the narrator and main character, Eddie Morra, explains that he used to be an unwashed loser trying to write a crappy science fiction novel, when he runs into his ex-brother-in-law who gives him a free tablet of a new drug, NZT, that lets Eddie tap into the "rest" of his brain (i.e. the 80-90% that we don't use). All of a sudden, Eddie is able to finish his book in a week, learn foreign languages instantly, seduce ANY woman (although this might not be the NZT, but the fact that it's Bradley Cooper), and, most importantly, play the stock market so that he starts making millions. Soon enough, Eddie must face the inevitable consequences for his fortune: he becomes sick from the drug itself and withdrawal when he starts running out of tablets; he is being stalked by foreign goons who want his stash; and he becomes entangled with financial bigwig Carl Van Loon (Robert de Niro, whom no one in their right, NZT-addled mind would ever presume to eff with). The message: drugs are bad. Except when they're good.



All of this plot is narrated in loving detail by Eddie, giving the audience a sense that they are being "told" and not "shown"--a mark of lazy filmmaking in my opinion. In addition, I was underwhelmed by the acting. Bradley Cooper was great in Wedding Crashers, where he played Rachel McAdams' preppy jerkface fiance. I did see The Hangover, but I barely remember any of it, let alone Cooper's performance. And as a leading man in Limitless, I was just not that impressed with him. He's quite handsome, sure, but I never really felt his fear and/or elation. He just kind of came off as a smarmy bastard. But not in an awesomely mean way as in his previous roles. Just in an annoying, boring way. Then there's Abbie Cornish, who has nothing to do except look pretty and concerned as Eddie's on-again, off-again girlfriend. She dumps him during his "great unwashed" state and then starts seeing him again when he's all sexy and smart (and on drugs). When he finds out about the drugs (which puts her in immediate danger), she understandably dumps him...but at the end of the movie, when Eddie is STILL on the drugs, she's back with him again! What?! Lady, you are successful and beautiful enough to be with a guy who is awesome while NOT on drugs! This girl needs an intervention herself to get her off the  Bradley Cooper IV drip.

A little aside here: The only women in this film are 1) a girlfriend, 2) a bitchy landlord's wife whom Eddie bangs, 3) a hooker whom Eddie bangs...and may have accidentally killed. Girlfriend, bitch, dead hooker. Just sayin'.

And there's Robert de Niro, who plays kind of a badass, but again, a yawn-inducing badass. I couldn't muster up the energy to care about these people and their lame, drug-addled, rich people problems. And aside from some awesome and trippy camera work and one scene of surprising ultraviolence, Limitless is hardly the action thriller is promises to be in the previews.

One more thing. The ending is a bit ambiguous. Eddie claims to be off the drugs, but he is clearly not. The film ends with him easily speaking a foreign language to a waitress in a fancy restaurant while his dupe of a girlfriend looks on. Eddie grins at the girlfriend and says "what?", as if to say "Little old me? On drugs? I am, and yet you can't resist my good looks and charm!" So...what is the message of this film? That drugs are bad? That they get you in physical and emotional trouble? Or that as long and you're rich and hot, drugs are freakin' awesome! I'm all for moral ambiguity, but not when it's handled so clumsily as it is in Limitless. It's kind of sad, but I was actually hoping Eddie would die/be murdered/somehow "lose" by the end. That ending would have made sense given the context of the the previous 90% of the film. But, inexplicably, Eddie ends up on top. And I didn't buy that.

3 out of 5 stars

Backseat Barrister

Movies: The Lincoln Lawyer

The fact that I rarely watch courtroom movies or TV shows made The Lincoln Lawyer, a tense courtroom drama based on the novel by Michael Connelly, that much more of a rewarding viewing experience.  Whereas folks who have seen every lawyer/crime movie and show out there may have seen the twist ending coming a mile away, I didn't. Well, I did a little. But it still seemed very fresh and suspenseful to me since, again, I don't regularly indulge in films like this one.

But who can resist The Lincoln Lawyer's wonderful cast: Matthew McConaughey taking a much-needed breather from romantic comedies to step back into his old lawyer shoes (remember A Time to Kill? That movie is 15 years old now!) to play Mick Haller, a lawyer who works from the back of his chauffeured Lincoln town car and defends the kinds of people that others see as nothing more than scum (drug addicts, bikers, etc); Marissa Tomei as Mick's smokin' ex-wife and fellow lawyer; William H. Macy in a sweet role as the long-haired Frank Levin, Mick's PI; Ryan Phillippe as a rich, pouting pretty boy accused of raping and beating a call girl within an inch of her life. And a colorful and talented cast of supporting characters: John Leguizamo as a parole officer, Frances Fisher as Phillppe's mother, Bryan Cranston as a hard-ass detective...the list goes on and on.

The acting is top-notch and the plot is twisty enough to keep the viewer interested without descending into confusion. Mick Haller, who is used to defending so-called "low-lifes", is handed a plum case: rich kid Louis Roulet (Phillippe) is accused of assault and rape, although he claims, with tears in his eyes, that he was set up so that the woman in question could sue him for enough money to put an end to her career as a hooker. Mick believes Louis (or is at least being paid enough to believe Louis) until evidence showing that Louis baldly lied to him begins to mount. But even if Louis IS technically guilty of the crime, it's Mick's job to defend him, right? It would seem that simple...until Mick discovers that Louis might have ties to a previous case of his: one that may have landed an innocent man in prison.

When Mick becomes suspicious that Louis is not only a liar and guilty of this particular crime, but a downright psychopath, is when things really hit the fan. Mick is on to Louis and Louis is on to Mick--and so begins a game of cat-and-mouse with Mick and his family's safety at stake. There are multiple twists throughout the film, some obvious and cliched, others genuinely surprising. The suspense was enough to send shivers up my spine. The Lincoln Lawyer really is a fun, smart popcorn flick.

4 out of 5 stars

An Open Letter to The History Channel

TV: History Channel

Dear History Channel,

What happened to you? I feel like I barely recognize you anymore. You used to have such interesting programs: specials about the history of Coney Island, Halloween, sex in the Bible, and Nazis. These days, it seems that there are only two options when I turn you on: American Pickers and Pawn Stars. I don't want to watch Pawn Stars...I want to learn about the history of the mafia and what the pilgrims ate on the Mayflower! I can't be the only one who enjoys the soothing combination of a soft-spoken male narrator and old-timey images appearing on screen. I guess I'll have to watch PBS to get my fix now.



Now, look, I get it. It seems like all TV viewers want anymore is reality shows and to be mindlessly entertained--not to learn anything when they watch TV. Turn on Bravo, TLC, or MTV and you'll be hit with a sea of dumbed-down reality programming aimed at the lowest common denominator. That's a societal problem and we're all complicit. But History Channel--just because the world is changing doesn't mean you have to! It's ok to refuse to budge in the face of changing expectations in the world of pop culture. After all, you're the History Channel! If any channel can remain an unchanging monument to a time past, it's you.

Please, History Channel. I love you and I miss you. Please come back.

Sincerely,
Jenny

Man-Boy in the City

Movies: Cedar Rapids


Cedar Rapids is a fish-out-of-water story about a wholesome small town man corrupted by a business trip to the big city. The joke here is that the "big city" is Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the bacchanalian business trip is an insurance conference. So drinking all those tiny bottles of liquor the hotel provides you in the little refrigerator is what passes for the height of debauchery.

Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe, a guy in his mid-to-late thirties who has spent his whole life in Brown Valley, Wisconsin working as an insurance agent at Brown Star Insurance. Although he is not unlike Steve Carrell's character Andy from The 40 Year Old Virgin, Tim is no innocent: he's sleeping with his former elementary school teacher, Macy Vanderhei (played by Sigourney Weaver), whom he accidentally keeps calling "Mrs. Vanderhei". Tim's life of ribald excitement is interrupted when his boss comes to him with a huge favor: will Tim attend the annual midwestern insurance convention and hopefully claim the prestigious "Two Diamond" award for Brown Star Insurance for the fourth year in a row? It's an emergency situation, see, because the Brown Star Insurance rock star, Trent, who normally attended the convention and won all the previous Two Diamond awards died (naked, with a belt looped around his neck. Naive Tim doesn't get what's so controversial about this. Apparently, he's never been on the Internet before).

Anyway, wide-eyed Tim takes on the responsibility and heads to Cedar Rapids for a long weekend that changes his life. He meets up with crude party animal Dean Ziegler (John C. Reilly), "just one of the boys" Joan Ostrowski-Fox (Anne Heche), and mild-mannered token black guy with a fondness for "the HBO program The Wire" Ronald Wilkes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.). This wacky group helps Tim through his first time getting drunk, skinny dipping in a hotel pool, accidentally smoking meth (or crack? I couldn't tell), and sleeping with a married woman. Let's just say it's a full weekend for Tim.

But the point of the film is that even so-called degenerates who imbibe illegal substances, get wasted, and sleep around can be good people...and, conversely, that so-called upstanding citizens with Christian values can be corrupt and manipulative, as Tim realizes when he uncovers massive-ish fraud at the convention. It's a lesson most people eventually learn--Tim just learns it a little later in life.

Although Cedar Rapids has its moments of hilarity (my favorite scene is when drunk Tim takes a woman to his hotel room, kisses her, and excitedly yells "I WANNA MAKE LOVE!"), it's not nearly at the level of a film it borrows heavily from, The 40 Year Old Virgin. I feel that at this point we've seen this story done many times over: man-child is taken under the wing of cruder, ruder peers, learns how to party, but also learns some heart-warming life lessons. This is pretty much Judd Apatow's entire oeuvre. The film is funny, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table. And in fact, many of the poop and penis jokes are phoned in (case in point: during a hot dog eating contest, Tim tells Joan "You look really good with a wiener in your mouth". Ha HA. That joke was so funny when I was in 5th grade). Cedar Rapids is good for a couple hours of mindless entertainment, and Ed Helms is undeniably charming in the lead role, but this is a movie to get at Red Box, not one to pay out the nose to see in theatres (which I did).

3.5 out of 5 stars

Blood Red States

Movies: Two Thousand Maniacs!


Two Thousand Maniacs! is a gore/'hicksploitation' film directed by one of the masters of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis. I saw it as a midnight movie feature, which is probably the best way to see such a film since the sleep deprivation definitely adds to the experience.

Two Thousand Maniacs! takes place in a southern town called Pleasant Valley (population 2,000. Get it!?) where the locals lure 6 yankees into their town and explain that they are the town's "guests of honor" for the Centennial celebration they are having. Well, the film takes place in April 1965, so one century ago it would have been...OH EM GEE! The end of the Civil War (aka "The War of Northern Aggression")! So what do these weird hicks want with a handful of unsuspecting northerners? To kill them in the most creative and unintentionally hilarious ways possible.

So I went into this movie thinking it would be wall-to-wall splatter and dismemberment, but actually the film is quite tame. You do indeed see Yanks getting killed in interesting ways, but you only see glimpses of blood and carnage. I mean, it's not like I was salivating for bloodshed, but when I go to a exploitative gore picture, I expect exploitation and gore. This movie would probably be a soft PG rating today.

A quick fact check on imdb.com reveals that director Lewis was himself a yankee--born in Pittsburgh, got his college degree at Northwestern. That adds an interesting layer to his portrayal of southerners as, well, dumb hicks (and psychopaths) in this film. Lewis seems to have no problem brutally mocking those who live below the Mason-Dixon Line. But I'm probably reading too much into a film that wasn't made to make a statement about north-south relations, but simply to shock and entertain the viewer. Sadly, the most entertaining aspect of Two Thousand Maniacs! was the group of hecklers sitting behind me in the theatre. When a bunch of yokels hold down the comely yankee woman to cut her arm off with an ax, one of them called out: "Look, a Tennessee sniper!". Har.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Hangin' with Agent Cooper

TV: Twin Peaks season 1



I'm starting off by talking about the show that gave this blog its title. Twin Peaks is a cult television show that ran for two seasons from 1990-1991. Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, I'm amazed that this surreal, creepy show was even allowed on air that long--and that is was insanely popular for a while to boot. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I feel that a show like this would never get greenlighted today. As we've seen with Arrested Development, Firefly, and Freaks and Geeks, even shows with a loyal fan base often get booted off the air at the first sign of lower ratings.

Twin Peaks takes place in the eponymous fictional small town in Washington state, very close to the Canadian border. It begins with the discovery of the dead body of one Laura Palmer--a beautiful high school girl who seems to have been known and loved (mostly) by the entire town. The local authorities have limited resources and soon call in FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, a wholesome and honest man with a taste for 'damn good coffee' and cherry pie.

Over the course of the first season, the show delves into the lives of a large number of inhabitants of Twin Peaks. Among them are Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle) and James Hurley (James Marshall), Laura's closest friends who knew she was in some sort of trouble right before she died; Ben Horne (Richard Beymer), a business man who owns half the town and his spoiled daughter, Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn), who takes a schoolgirl liking to Agent Cooper; local diner owner Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton) and her married lover Big Ed Hurley (Everett McGill), and many others.

The main point Lynch and Frost aim to get across is that everyone in Twin Peaks has a dark side and secrets--and that's why there is a sense of evil hidden away within this friendly small town. In one episode, James Hurley reveals to Donna Hayward, his now girlfriend, that his mother is a deadbeat alcoholic. He says that he is telling her this so that there will be no secrets between them: "It's the secrets people keep that destroy any chance they have of happiness and I don't want us to be like that". In another episode, Agent Cooper tells a lovelorn Audrey Horne that he has no secrets. Indeed, it seems that this outsider is the only one without a double life. Even the upstanding sheriff, Harry Truman (Michael Ontkean), is carrying on an affair that few people know about.

This "things are not what they seem" trope is typical to David Lynch's work, as are the elements of surrealism that pop up here and there among an otherwise straightforward 'whodunnit' story arc. One example is Cooper's dream at the end of the third episode. In the dream Cooper is in a red room with a woman who looks like Laura Palmer and a little person: "The Little Man from Nowhere". The people in the dream speak strangely, both in tone (Lynch had the actors say their lines backward and then played the lines forward, resulting in bizarre speech patterns) and in words. They reveal clues to Cooper that become clear in later episodes. Despite chilling and strange scenes such as this one, Twin Peaks proves to be one of Lynch's more accessible works. Compared to Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway, Twin Peaks is downright vanilla. The show most closely resembles the tone of Lynch's earlier film (also starring MacLachlan) Blue Velvet.

Well, I'm now partway through the second season of Twin Peaks which notoriously started sucking (or so I've heard) after they reveal who killed Laura Palmer. Since I accidentally read a recap that revealed the killer (and once you know who it is, it's SO obvious), I'm not exactly waiting feverishly for this revelation to occur. I'm just sitting back and enjoying the weirdness. I have yet to judge the second season, but I can say that the first season of Twin Peaks is as close to perfection as a TV show can get.

5 out of 5 stars