What I Watched

Blood Work

When I saw that this movie was available on instant streaming last night, I suggested to Mike that we watch it. We had both seen it before. It is a flawed movie, but I have great affection for it.

Here is a quick recap of the film: it's a thriller. It's a whodunit. The main character is an FBI man, Terry McCaleb, (Clint Eastwood). The movie starts with his collapse. His heart gives out while pursuing a killer. The movie then fast forwards to McCaleb, now retired, living in a houseboat community. He is sought out by a woman (Wanda DeJesus) who informs him that he has her sister's heart. She was murdered the night that he received his transplant. She asks him to find the murderer.

There are really horrible action sequences in this movie. They are cringeworthy and the only way I can get through them is by picking up the phone and studying IMDB data when they are occurring. But I don't really care, because there's so much I love about this movie. I love Clint Eastwood's gentleness in this part, his intelligence, his dedication to his work, his stubbornness. I love the goofiness of Jeff Daniels in his role as Buddy, McCaleb's neighbor in this houseboat community who's available for hire as McCaleb's chauffeur. I love the women in this movie. They're strong and interesting. I love that the main character has a physical weakness. It is rare in a movie that the hero has an ailment. They don't even have sore backs. They can jump off buildings and run without a limp. I love it that his condition is an integral part of the film. This is a movie I could watch again and again.

The Sandwich King

We watched the debut show of Jeff Mauro's The Sandwich King yesterday. Jeff Mauro was just named the winner of Food Network Star. I had become hooked on that show, seeing it as a competition where you had to have great cooking skills, but what seemed most important was that the person have comfort within their own skin, that they went through with life with a sense of grace and ease, even in their most embarrassing moments. Jeff Mauro seemed to have that capability, and so I thought that he would make the transition from Food Network competitor to Food Network star seamlessly.

It didn't happen that way. The show was muddled.It started off funny, as if was right in the middle of something, and Mauro was in one of his neighborhood sandwich shops that would provide the inspiration for the sandwich he would highlight in this episode, the Chicago beef sandwich. It was a sandwich I'd never encountered before, a sandwich that looked great, and while talking with the owner of the shop, I was reminded of Mauro's natural charm with people. I think for the show to work, it needs to be more deliberately set up with a definite structure, where Jeff could take these field trips and chat with cooks that inspired him and then go cook on his own. Right now, it seems like happenstance when he's in the kitchen and when he's out talking to others. To make matters worse, when he was in the kitchen, in the middle of making his Chicago Beef sandwich, Jeff launched into another recipe of another sandwich, one that also seemed delicious, but very different, a light, sweet creation with mortadella and fig. It seemed to be such a different tone to me and so out of the blue. I felt yanked out of my Chicago beef reverie. But I have faith in the Sandwich King. I think Mauro is naturally charming and assured. I would say, just keep it simple, tell us stories, we will listen. Just make it easier for us to sit back and be entertained.

Food Network Star Finale

This was one of those reality show competitions when I would have been happy if any of the finalists had won. It felt like such a tight contest where they all turned in excellent performances, that I actually thought that there would ultimately be a different outcome. In the end, the Sandwich King, Jeff Mauro, won the competition.

By the end, I did want Jeff to win. I found him exceedingly gracious and very funny. I thought he had a natural charm. He seemed like a kind person. He seemed real, someone who was spontanseous, which at times did not serve him well during the competition, but which always made it interesting. He seemed to work hard and he seemed to know a lot about how to cook and how to explain how to prepare meals.

It seemed to me watching this show this season that I often thought about the high caliber of people, albeit sometimes somewhat eccentric in their own way, of the Food Network stars. On this show, they seemed to be both nurturing and tough in their assessment of the contestants. When the candidates had been winnowed down to three, I felt that they had chosen finalists, Jeff Maury, Susie Jimenez, and Vic Moea,who "played well," who I think legitimately became friends and probably will remain friends.  I felt that they had selected people who were skilled in the kitchen and also people that they would want as colleagues.

It ended up being a very sweet show to watch. We will set the DVR to record "The Sandwich King."

Mike Birbiglia: What I Should Have Said Was Nothing

I heard Mike Birbiglia last week on WTF, when, on the 200th episode, he was given the task of interviewing Marc Maran. The thing I really liked about the show was how he seemed to surprise Maran. Birbiglia didn't ask the standard questions. He was blunt but loving. He asked challenging things. He also had called up colleagues and asked them what they would want to ask Maran. So he had in hand a wish list of questions from other comics.  It made for a very interesting, sometimes uncomfortable, very Maran conversation.

So when we had the opportunity to watch something on Netflix Streaming last night, I said that I wanted to see Mike Birbiglia. His show, What I Should Have Said Was Nothing, was available. I found it smart and funny. I liked his personal stories the most. There was a political bit in the middle that, although I agreed with his sentiments, felt generic to me. Birbiglia is a great storyteller. He is willing to seem foolish. He is very engaging. I would like to see more of his work.

Steve Byrne: Happy Hour

SPOILER ALERT: If you're interested in listening to the Steve Byrne WTF episode, there's a fairly detailed account of a story told. You might want to skip this post.

Lately I've become obsessed with Marc Maran's podcast, WTF. It's dramatically reduced my music listening at the moment; it seems whenever I have a moment to listen to anything, I want to hear these conversations.

Yesterday, I listened to the episode that featured Steve Byrne, a comic that had previously been unknown to me. Before introducing Steve Byrne, Maran played a clip from a previous episode with Dane Cook. In this segment, Maran asks Cook if there was a comic that he believed "stole his essence." Cook says yes and named Steve Byrne. He talks about a conversation they had about it and how that talk resolved things.

On this podcast, Byrne was able to tell his side of the story. He said that Cook told it as if he iniiated the conversation and that it was a mentorship situation. Byrne said that he called Dane Cook after he was told that he would no longer be welcome to perform at a certain comedy club, because Cook had issues with him. So Byrne called Cook to find out what it was about and went over to his house to talk.

They did have the conversation where Cook said he thought that Byrne was stealing his essence. Byrne said that he thought that was crazy but was willing to let it go. Then Byrne added a detail that Cook failed to mention. At the end of the conversation, Cook basically told Byrne that this was his city, and that he should leave town. Byrne had just moved to L.A. after working for seven years in New York.

Cook also failed to say that a few weeks later, he and Bryne had an argument outside a club. Byrne had told a few of his comic friends about what happened. It was a story that became public knowledge among comedians. Cook wasn't happy about it; Byrne didn't back down.

The next morning Byrne received an email from his agent. He and Dane Cook had the same agent. The agent terminated his relationship with Byrne. For a year or so afer that, Bryne was blacklisted from certain comedy clubs in L.A.

I listened to this podcast while I was walking the hills of our neighborhood. When I returned, Mike was probably unfortunate enough to be sitting outside, and I told him the whole story, blow by blow. Last night, when we were looking for something to watch, I discovered that Byrne had some of his comedy specials on instant streaming on Netflix.

We first tried "The Byrne Identity," which is such a great title, but the opening fell flat, and we might have just ended it at that, but that story he told was so compelling that we ended up watching "Happy Hour," which made me laugh very hard at times. I kept saying to Mike, "He really seems to me like he has his own essence." We considered watching some Dane Cook to compare essences and decided against it almost as soon as the words hit the air.

The Adjustment Bureau

If you haven't seen this movie, you might not want to read this post. My cynicism may spoil it for you.

The first time I tried to watch this movie, I fell asleep within ten minutes. It had been something I had wanted to see. I generally want to see All Things Damon, but from the little that I had been able to sample, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I told Mike that I didn't really believe that someone mooning someone at a college party would lead to a politician's demise. (Well, he was a Democrat... Maybe it could happen.) I also couln't believe in the Adjustment Bureau. One of the actors played Roger in Mad Men. I kept thinking of that show whenever I saw his face. That is never a good sign. These were characters that were supposed to shape our destiny. They were supposed to be menacing and all powerful. Before I fell asleep, I remember admiring their hats.

So I gave it another try, watched the whole movie, and came to the same conclusion. My biggest problem was the script. I think in this type of movie, where there's a world set up with definite rules with the idea that if these rules are broken, there are severe consequences, that has to pay off in some way or there has to be a really great explanation why that doesn't occur. So in this movie, when the men from the Adjustment Bureau tell Matt Damon that if he tells anyone about them, that they will screw up his brain so that he is a shell of who he ever was, and then Matt Damon goes out and breaks that rule and nothing ever happens, there's not even a sense that anything will happen, something is wrong.

I considered looking up character's names while I was writing this and decided that I never felt invested in any of these characters and I'm not going to pretend I did by calling them by name. There were plenty of chase scenes, which bored me to tears. I turned to my phone and started looking up trivia on IMDB about this movie. That's when I read that they photoshopped Emily Blunt's head on top of a dancer so that the dance scenes would be convincing. It just feels that this movie encapsulates everything that I don't like about most movies today.

Dexter, Season 4

This show made me think about the notion of spoilers. We are in a time now where we have so many options to view shows that it's easy to take your time to see things. I waited a long time to see this season, primarily because it seems to me that you need to be in a certai frame of mind to watch Dexter, and I was debating whether it was just too creepy for me. But in the meantime, I had kept general tabs on the show. I saw that this season had been well reviewed. I read the accolades for John Lithgow as the serial killer, and I did want to see his performance. And almost universally, in the reviews I saw of this season, without any advance warning, I saw a sentence that I wish I hadn't read. This season was meant to end on a surprise note, but it seemed that no one writing could keep the secret, which is understandable, because, as that type of critic, you kind of have to write about it, but I needed a SPOILER ALERT. Even if it had been further down in the article, I would have known that this was going to be about the ending and I wouldn't have read it, but it was sometimes in the lead paragraph. So I knew, and I wish I hadn't, because it was written in a way that you weren't supposed to know.

I still ended up loving the season. The thing I really like about this show is that they do put in a lot of twists and turns to the plot and they also talk about larger issues of humanity that you wouldn't necessarily think would be part of a show about a serial killer. So this season was a lot about the importance of family and can you be a serial killer and a family man? It seems ridiculous looking at those words on the screen, but in the world of Dexter, it makes sense.

My one complaint about this season is that there seemed to be many occasions where Dexter had the opportunity to execute his mission and he failed to do so, and that didn't always seem believable to me. He was also extraordinarily reckless at certain points with a sloppiness that perhaps come after the wear and tear of three seasons. Some of that was interesting to me, and some was hard to believe that he was not under more scrutiny. But there were some surprisingly touching moments. Despite knowing the ending, I do want to see what happens next. This time, I have read very little of Season 5. With this show, it is best to go in with as little information as possible.

Cowboys & Aliens

A few thoughts on the experience of seeing Cowboys & Aliens this afternoon:

First off, when I go to see a movie, I need caffeine. I have this unfortunate habit of falling asleep at movies unless I have a cup of caffiene readily available. At the concession stand, I noticed two things: at this particular theatre: they have combos, like a popcorn and a soda, that they have numbered for your ordering convenience, but they don't advertise the price. The second thing was that they have calorie counts listed for everything. You would think that would be a deterrent for ordering things, but no one seeemed to care.

When we sat down, I was surprised that on the second week that this film was out, on a weekend day, there was very few people in the theater. It was a beautiful day. We had planned our walk for after the show. The coming attractions then began with a short commercial against watching movies on your computer, which ended wtih the line, "Go Big or Go Home." It made me wonder about the relative health of movie attendance in general. It kind of made me miss home.

When the movie started, I was surprised. I felt completely engrossed immediately. It started quietly. Daniel Craig is alone on the screen. He is wounded. He has this crazy iron thing on one of  his forearms. He is trying to figure things out. At that moment, a guy came in to join his group of friends two rows ahead of us and announced, "The Captain is here," a statement which imediately activated my inner librarian and I shushed him. If I thought about it, I don't think the inner librarian move has ever been super effective. He told me to shut up, which I would have thought was funny, if I hadn't been annoyed.

Then I went back to the screen and Daniel Craig, who I've decided needs to be included on my list of current day actors who emanate the glamour that we used to see in movies of years ago. Watching Daniel Craig, I could understand why he is our current Bond. He commands the screen with authority. He seems to own stock in confidence.

Then a woman and a man walked in and sat behind us and proceeded to have a conversation. Again, my inner librarian emerged. Again, the shush was ineffective. She said, "Drop dead, lady." It was language that amazed me. I believe this woman was either younger or my contemporary. If I had been in the mood to talk, I might have asked her if her tardiness was due to travel by time machine. I felt that I had was back in fifties argot. I then imagined quietly swearing at her in French. Instead I just gave her a serious look and settled my eyes back on the screen.

One of the things that amazed me about this movie was that I never believe that I care much about westerns, but then often when I see them, I feel lost in the story. I think it's the sweeping vistas, the orchestral music, the large amounts of time when there is little or no dialogue, and the horses. I was very happy to see Ketih Carradine. I have loved his work for so long; it feels like an old friend on the screen, someone you can depend on to deliver a solid performance.

Now, I wasn't wild about Olivia Wilde. I understand she's good looking, but I don't experience herself as an intelligent person. This role demands a highly evolved capacity to think, feel, and inspire. I didn't think she was up to the task.

I also wasn't that thrilled about the aliens. I wanted to know more about them. I wanted there to be a more speciifcs strategy on how to defeat aliens. As it was, even with Daniel Craig, it was hard for me to imagine that the cowboys would win.

But they did, and in the end, Daniel Craig rode off alone in the sunset. It was only at the end that I noticed that he wasn't really that good a rider. He seemed pretty tight and he bounced in the saddle. But, because it was Daniel Craig, I found that to be individualistic.  As far as I can see, he can do no wrong on the screen.

Temple Grandin

I put off watching this movie for a long time. A friend actually lent me the DVD and it just sat here unwatched for months until she finally asked me for it back. I just saw it a week ago at a friend's house.

After seeing it, I understood my delay. This is a very thoughtful, powerful film. It's not anything to take lightly. It's not something to view while eating a ham sandwich at lunch. This film moved me deeply. It was a big surprise to me how much I loved this film. It would be a film that I would like to own.

If you haven't heard of this film, it is based on the life of Temple Grandin. She is an autistic woman who became famous as a consultant on how to humanely prepare animals for slaughter. It wasn't a premise that necessarily made me want to see it immediately. But when I saw it, I realized that it was also a film about learning how to achieve your dreams when the way you think about things is different from the norm. It made me think about the different ways that brains work and it made me ponder my own particular strengths and weaknesses.  It' was about the power of observation. It was about running businesses well. It was about the politics necessary in being a powerful woman.

Claire Danes amazed me in this role. It was one of those performances that felt channeled. It didn't seem that there was an inauthentic moment in it. This movie inspired me. It moved me to tears. It haunts me. I want everyone to see it.

 

 

Luther

We watched Luther, because of Idris Elba. This actor, through his work as Stringer Bell on The Wire, is on my radar screen of actors whose work I want to see.

In this BBC series, Idris Elba plays Detective John Luther, a brilliant investigator who has a tendency to go outside the law to make things right. He has a temper. He often acts impulsively. His first insinct often seems to be to break a rule.  I found all of this unfortunate. Why couldn't the show have been about an incredibly intelligent detective doing his job? Why do writers seem to feel the need to add drama, the desire to make the character an outlaw or a tragic hero? Why can't they trust that we will find this man fascinating without that baggage?

The stories were often frustrating, because laws had to be broken, and so characters took chances that often to me seemed reckless and absurd. But the killers in the show were genuinely chilling. The actors were brilliant. I believe that Idris Elba should be one of our top movie stars. He is that smart. He is that charismatic.

Season 1 was six episodes. Someone commented on Netflix that you should only watch this show if you could watch all six episodes in one sitting. We had a different experience. It seemed to me to be the type of show where i could only watch one episode, and then I wanted to follow it up with comedy, because the show was so intense. After we briefly discussed whether we wanted to even watch the final episode, because the show was so dark, we watched the finale and then said that when Season 2 came out, we would want to see it. It's a show that grows on you. Despite its maddening insistence to try and shock and dismay, there's a heart and soul to this venture that stays with you.