May | 2006 | Groundlings Review 2006 May | Movie, Television and book reviews for common folk, by common folk.

May, 2006

TV Preview: Lost, Season Finale

May 23, 2006 by Dennis West

>Wednesday’s the big night—the finale for the second season of ABC’s Lost! The promos for the finale are promising to answer many questions, which will be a relief. But I think it’s safe to say that the network isn’t planning on taking this show off the air any time soon, so I’m expecting an excruciating cliff-hanger that introduces a whole new set of questions which will hopefully be more intriguing than the current mysteries.

On the surface Lost is a castaway show about a group of people who are stranded on a tropical island after their plane crashes. But this is no ordinary island, there are strange creatures and people in the jungle, a series of hatches scattered on the island by the scientific organization the Hanso Foundation for their Dharma Initiative.

This show also has great character development. We see how everyone is different as they interact on the island, but also through flashbacks we learn what has happened to these people to make them the way they are.

This is a very unique method of story telling that really provides something for people with all kinds of tastes. If you like episodic drama, you get it in the flashbacks—they usually have a story that wraps up at the end of the episode. If you like science fiction, there are all kinds of strange things happening on the island that very much fall into the science fiction category. If you like continuing stories with great mysterious cliffhangers, this show has more than it’s fair share.

In last week’s episode, they had just buried Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez) and Libby (Cynthia Watros) when a sailboat appeared off the shore and they appeared to have hopes that finally they might be rescued.

What happens now? There are still many questions that have yet to be answered. What happens if the button isn’t pushed when the timer runs out in the Swan Hatch? What are the others going to do if Michael (Harold Perrineau) is able to bring Jack (Matthew Fox), Locke (Terry O’Quinn), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) back with him? Does Sayid (Naveen Andrews) have a plan to protect the main five from the others?

And if all this isn’t enough, for everyone who loves gathering clues to unravel the mysteries of the island, there is the Lost Experience. This is an official effort by ABC and it is made up of a series of web sites and even a book that is all made to add depth to the experience and to provide clues about what is really going on.

The book is Bad Twin, by Gary Troup (who’s name is an anagram for purgatory). Some of the sites include www.thehansofoundation.org, www.oceanic-air.com, www.sublymonal.com and a few others. It’s really fun to see how much detail and back information is being put into this show.

I only hope that everyone remembers that it is just a show and we do have to get on with our own lives sometime.

One more thing. If you just can’t wait until the show airs tomorrow night, there appears to be a rather complete synopsis of the finale on Wikipedia. But be warned, if it is correct, there are significant spoilers for this episode. The link to the site is here. If you get spoiled, don’t come crying to me… ’cause I’ll be sitting here, weeping silently.

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Book Review: Nurse Matilda (Nanny McPhee)

May 18, 2006 by Bryan Osborn

The Nanny You Need is . . . Nurse Matilda?

Some of you loyal readers may recall that Dennis and I both reviewed Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, and Angela Lansbury), a little while back ( Dennis’ review ) ( Bryan’s review ). If you have not seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it. This charming tale of a homely nanny with a magical walking stick is a masterful adaptation of the book it is based on and in my opinion actually improves upon the source material. I consider it a must-see; a real gem that only comes along once in a while. Run out and rent or buy the Nanny McPhee DVD. This is one that I have now added to my collection even though I rarely buy movies anymore.

If you are anything like me, you often find yourself saying, “The movie was good, but the book was so much better.” After seeing the movie in the theater (or should that be theatre in honor of the book’s British origin), my kids and I were so excited to read the book that was the inspiration for the movie, Nurse Matilda. That said, this is one of those rare instances when I will say that the movie was superior to the book.

The copy I read was Nurse Matilda : The Collected Tales, which has all three Nurse Matilda books in one. The first thing you notice in the book are the many “Briticisms.” The most obvious is the use of the word nurse, which is more akin to the American use of the word nanny. In other scenes, the children eat swedes and roly-poly pudding with treacle . . . doesn’t sound very appealing to me, but they seemed to like it. These terms do however tend to create a foreign-feeling, which enhances the atmosphere of the story.

There are other differences between the book and the movie as well. One of the most glaring differences is that in the book, Mrs. Brown is alive. While there is a lopsided trend in children’s movies for portraying single-parent families (Toy Story, Land Before Time, The Iron Giant, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, etc.), in Nanny McPhee, Mrs. Brown’s absence and Mr. Brown’s preoccupation with providing for his large family, explained the rotten behavior of the children. In the book however, both parents are present and seem to be scratching their heads as to why their children are so ill behaved. This made them into complete dunderheads to me (and yes, I do realize that for the era the book is set in, it was common among the wealthy for both parents to be at home and still have a live-in nanny who takes care of them).

Another element that was introduced in the movie was the love interest between the widower Mr. Brown and Miss Evangeline. In the movie, this was a tender love interest that kindled warmth for the story. In the book, while Evangeline is sent off to live with wealthy Aunt Adelaide, she still comes off as just a pinhead and little more.

Also in the book, the Browns have so many kids that they can’t even keep track of them. They even mention in the second book, Nurse Matilda Goes to Town, that the Browns have adopted more children. While this might be funny (or perhaps just irresponsible) it made the children indistinguishable. There are so many kids that there are no distinguishable characters. One of the most heartwarming elements of the movie was to see the growth of the children in general and Simon (Thomas Sangster) in particular. That element was sadly missing from the book.

Along those same lines, in Nurse Matilda, the children never seem to learn any lessons at all. While there is some marginal progression in their lessons, you don’t really feel that they have learned to behave, but just to fear Matilda. In fact, in Nurse Matilda Goes to Town, the children are right back where they started and might even be worse. To me, this completely robbed Nurse Matilda of her power as a teacher and a mentor. All in all, the lessons they “learned” just seamed to become repetitious after a while.

I will say though that I enjoyed the illustrations. The pen and ink drawings added a charming feel to the book, placing it squarely in the time frame it was set.

Despite all of these issues, I didn’t hate the book. My children and I enjoyed reading it together and shared a few laughs as well. Emma Thompson just hit a home run with a screenplay that in my opinion far outshined the book. Overall, Nurse Matilda was enjoyable, and has been an endearing tale for generations of children. I will likely not finish the sequel though, as I was turned off after the first few chapters seeing the children right back where they started.

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Available on iTunes: Firefly

May 11, 2006 by Dennis West

>Exciting news for all Browncoats out there in the ‘verse: the extremely well written, but doomed to an early cancellation TV show, Firefly, is now available for download on iTunes.

Why is this news so exciting? Because now it’s easier than ever to share this great show with those currently unfamiliar with it. After a brief run of 11 episodes in 2002, Fox television cancelled Firefly without really giving it much of a chance. Those who were familiar with it were excited when it became available on DVD and began sharing it with others. DVD sales were so good that Universal Studios gave creator Joss Whedon the “go ahead” to make the movie Serenity, which ran in theaters in the Fall of 2005 and is now on DVD.

There are many high hopes from the fan community that if the DVD sales continue at a strong pace, that there might be a studio willing to fund a sequel to Serenity, or even a network that might revive the television series. I would imagine that sales through iTunes will be another way the success of the show will be measured.

From the opening narration:

“Here’s how it is: Earth got used up, so we terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths, some rich and flush with new technologies, some not so much. Central Planets, them was formed the Alliance, waged war to bring everyone under their rule; a few idiots tried to fight it, among them myself. I’m Malcolm Reynolds, captain of the Serenity. Got a good crew: fighters, pilot, mechanic. We even picked up a preacher, and a bona fide companion. There’s a doctor, too, rescued his genius sister from some Alliance camp, so they’re keeping a low profile. You got a job, we can do it, don’t much care what it is.”

Firefly is a unique science fiction series because it combines many elements of the Wild West—not only in the visual design, but also in the dialogue. The stories and characters are cleverly written and are often very funny and quite quotable.

Wash: “Little River just gets more colorful by the moment. What’ll she do next?”

Zoe: “Either blow us all up or rub soup in our hair. It’s a toss-up.”

Wash: “I hope she does the soup thing. It’s always a hoot, and we don’t all die from it.”

One of my favorite aspects of the show is the documentary style of cinematography which has become rather common in shows like the new Battlestar Galactica, but at the time Firefly was made, it was something that I had never seen before on a Science Fiction show.

So, if you’ve never seen Firefly, download the pilot episode, also named Serenity—you won’t regret it. If you have seen it, gift an episode or two to a friend and let them experience it for themselves… you’ll then have a great show to quote when you’re hanging out (like, “I wanna go to the crappy planet where I’m a hero!” Wash, from Jaynestown) and another reason to gripe about how networks like Fox don’t know a good thing when it’s playing on their own airwaves.

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News: Star Wars Trilogy Original Theatrical Release on DVD

May 10, 2006 by Dennis West

"Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

Lucasfilm has announced that on September 12th, 2006, for a limited time, the Original Star Wars Trilogy will be available on DVD in its pre Special Edition state.

From the StarWars.com announcement: “In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film. That means you’ll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.”

It’s exciting to think of being able to view the version of Star Wars that I fell in love with when I was 7 years old and seeing it in the theater, before the “Episode IV” subtitle had been added to the opening crawl.

I’d like to be able to think that it was my recent article about Star Wars that prompted this event, but I know that many fans over the years have anguished over the desire to own a DVD where Han shoots Greedo first.

Other things that I’m excited to see are the original songs in Jabba’s palace and in the Ewok village in Return of the Jedi, as well as the excising of the CGI Jabba from A New Hope.

From what it sounds like, though, is that in these packages you get the 2004 versions that include the Extra Special Editions that I already own. Who knows, though, maybe I’ll be able to find someone who wants to buy my current copies, cheap.

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TV Review: ABC’s Invasion – Revisited

May 9, 2006 by Dennis West

>
Well, I’ve stuck with ABC’s Invasion all season and now I can say that it’s starting to be worth it. I think you can tell from my previous review that I had mixed emotions about it. And while I think they could have done a better, more engaging job at unraveling the mystery, what they’ve built it up to is starting to pay off.

The series started out last fall in the aftermath of a hurricane both on the show and in real-life, so it probably suffered a bit from people being cautious of a show about a fictional hurricane ravaged community.

The tone was very quickly changed, though, to a slow paced mystery about people who are getting pulled into the water by these yellow, glowing water creatures and get changed into what they’re calling hybrids—people who believe they are the same people they used to be, but who are essentially clones who share their previous DNA with the creature that replaced them. The mystery is in finding out who has been changed and whether they are still the people they used to be.

The main character on Invasion is Russell Varon, played by Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch), who has to deal with the world once he learns that creatures from the waters are replacing people, and that his ex-wife, Mariel, played by Kari Matchett (Earth: Final Conflict), has become a hybrid as well. To complicate matters, they have kids from their previous marriage who’s step father, Sheriff Tom Underlay, played by William Fichtner (Contact, Armageddon), has been a hybrid for a number of years and may have purposely exposed his wife to them and who might also be well aware of the intensions of these creatures and could be helping them along.

It’s becoming apparent that Sheriff Underlay has been confused about the nature of the transformation that he went under, and also the intensions of the creatures in the water. At first he was serene about the change was making efforts to keep in secret. But now that he sees how ruthless the hybrids are becoming, and sees that they are ultimately building up to a war with the humans, he’s teaming up with Russell in an effort to thwart their plan.

Even though newcomers have missed all of the build-up and mystery, now is definitely a good time to start watching this show. The previews for this week’s episode promises to give us a rather exciting and it’ll be interesting to see what they’re building up to in the season finale.

My one big concern is that the season finale is destined to be a cliffhanger. As of now it’s not known whether or not this show will be renewed for a second season. If Invasion is cancelled, we may never know how it ends! Bummer. Well, I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed.

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