Fringe
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: Fringe is definitely worth a Stay. If you’ve never watched it and are a fan of science fiction or intelligent TV at all, you really owe it to yourself to view this from the beginning.
Star Wars: Clone Wars
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: If you are a fan of Star Wars, you should really be watching this series, so it gets a Stay. It’s true to the saga in tone (even if it occasionally overwrites established canon) and is a great show in its own right.
Last Resort
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: Absolutely a Stay. The creator’s pedigree alone make it worth giving the series a chance. It could be difficult to maintain the level of tension featured in the pilot, but this team has a better chance than most.
Elementary
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: Elementary gets a Skip. Though it is better than the abysmal film version, there is nothing here worth staying around for. Bland presentation and generic mysteries render the show inert. Check out the far superior Sherlock instead.
South Park
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: Definitely Stay. The premiere was good, but not especially noteworthy, but that’s not really the point. The show remains smart and funny and, if you aren’t offended by it’s often crude nature, you should be watching it.
Big Bang Theory
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: Big Bang Theory still gets a Stay. For those who have been watching for years it is still nice to spend time with these characters. If you’ve never watched, there’s no particular reason to start. There are plenty of worse comedies to watch, but there’s nothing here to really entice new viewers.
The Mindy Project
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: The Mindy Project earns a Give it 4 based on Kaling’s past work. If she can imbue the show with her unique style, it might just grow into something worth sticking with.
Modern Family
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: Modern Family once again gets a Stay. There’s no reason to quit watching now, when it is still one of the funniest comedies on TV. If you haven’t seen it before, you can easily drop in with any episode, but if you really want to see the show shine, check out its first two seasons.
Like 101 Dalmatians, the animation drawings for this film were transferred to cel via photocopy, though more care was taken here to reduce the visibility of the rough lines. The plot itself is really a series of mini adventures, with Merlin and Arthur turning into squirrels, fish, birds, and battling an evil witch. As a result, it can feel a little thin and meandering. It more than makes up for this shortcoming, however, with its ample does of humour. Particularly entertaining is the continual banter between Merlin and his owl Archimedes.
Viewing it now as an adult, it is this interplay that I enjoyed most. It’s not the most visually striking of the Disney films, as the studios animation styles continued to evolve, nor is it the most exciting, but it is definitely charming. Younger viewers will love the adventure sequences and the abundant humour, just as I did when I was young. The characters, though, are the real highlight here. This is a film that, sadly, seems to be being slowly forgotten, but it really deserves better. My view may be slightly tainted as this was a favorite during my childhood, but I think this is a must see for any Disney fan.
Up next: The Jungle Book (1967)
How I Met Your Mother
As it enters its eighth and, probably, final season, How I Met Your Mother is still quite a strong show. The series revolves around the character of Ted as he and his friends navigate their twenties and all the usual perils that entails. Even though it has been running for nearly a decade, it still remains close to its roots. It is no longer quite as relatable as the early season, more frequently dabbling in the absurd, and is often genuinely touching. The season premiere, though it certainly won’t stand up as a series high (except maybe for Barney’s rendition of the entire series in under a minute), it was a solid episode with plenty of laughs and it sets up the seaon nicely. Stay, Skip, or Give It 4: How I Met Your Mother gets a firm Stay. Even though it’s not at its height, it is still better than most of the comedies out there. Viewers who have been with it from the beginning will be rewarded for their patience, while it will also be very easy for new viewers to drop in for this last season.
Castle
Stay, Skip, or Give It 6: Castle earns another Stay. Nothing has really changed that gives existing viewers a reason to leave, and its simple premise makes it easy for new viewers to join.
Boardwalk Empire
Stay, Skip, or Give It 4: This is absolutely a Stay. If you’re not already watching, do yourself a favor and start from the beginning of the first season. You won’t regret it.
The season nine premiere, written by series head Greg Daniels, was certainly a step up from most of what we saw last year. The was a much stronger adherence to the mockumentary format than the show has had in quite a while, with cameras being dropped to awkward angles and characters directly referencing and speaking to the documentary crew. The characters also felt more grounded than they have recently, with the exception of Dwight, who is continuing on his path towards absolute clown. What didn’t improve, though, was the cohesiveness of the plot. At it’s height, The Office was able to blend several seemingly disparate storylines together into a unified theme, each reflecting or commenting on the other. The plots on display last night were much like those of the last several seasons: each existing wholly on their own, as though four writers were simply given the task of creating a five minute sketch, each of which were then chopped up and intercut with each other to fill out the 21 minute runtime.
Stay, Skip, or Give It 4: I’m going to give The Office a Stay, with the caveat that the recommendation only applies to those who are already invested in the series. It doesn’t show any sign of suddenly regaining its originally quality, so there’s no reason for new viewers to watch what is now a very mediocre show. With only a season left, however, those who have already been along for the ride thus far may as well stick it out, if only to see how it all ends.
The pilot was well written and directed, and I think the concept has a lot of potential. The daughter is set up to be the lead character, however, which could be a problem. She’s a mostly unlikeable, whiny character, who is already being set up with a potential romantic interest. That really could be the show’s downfall. It hasn’t yet introduced any particularly likeable or even interesting characters, and yet it seems to want to hang a good portion of its plot on family and relationship issues.
Stay, Skip, or Give it 4: I’m going to have to go with Give it 4 for Revolution. It has a lot of potential, so hopefully the writers will find the correct balance over the next four or so episodes. It won’t take a lot to make this a really good series, just some likable traits to the main characters and a little bit of forward momentum.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, as it was referred to in its original posters, but quickly abbreviated to 101 Dalmatians, was released in 1961. It was the first animated feature to make use of the newly developed Xerox process. Traditionally, drawing were made in pencil by the animators, then traced in ink onto the transparent cels by inkers, before being painted and ultimately photographed. Starting with 101 Dalmatians, the drawings were transferred to the cel via a Xerox photocopy. The reason for this was twofold. First, the box office failure of the very expensive Sleeping Beauty made the studio eager for ways to cut costs and eliminating the inking step was a good way to do this. Second, spots are notoriously difficult to animate and the exacting nature of the Xerox moved the prospect of animating 101 spotted dogs into the realm of possibility.
Following in the footsteps of Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians also features highly stylized visuals. Rather than the lavish backgrounds seen in Beauty, Dalmatians uses slightly abstract backgrounds, with the colouring often over- or under-filling the drawn borders of objects. The animation of the characters is noticeably different as well, owing to the Xerox process. The lines are much rougher and have more of a sketch quality, but this also allows for the retention of the “character” of the original pencil lines. Script wise, the film shines. This is the first solo effort by Bill Peet, who would go on to be a staple of both the studio and children’s literature, and it bears all of his hallmarks: slightly outrageous situations, humour, strong characters, and loads of heart.
Re-watching this film for the first time in many years, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I don’t remember having any particular affection for it as a child, but this time through I loved it. It is funny, fast paced, original, and filled with unique, very ‘60s looking animation. There’s plenty here for both young and old to enjoy and it is certainly one which should not be missed.
Up next: The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Glee hasn’t been good for a long, long time. It very quickly became a victim of it’s own success, trying too hard to please its fans rather than the writers trusting themselves to be able to continue creating the storylines that drew those fans in the first place. As a result, after its first season ratings highs, it has been shedding viewers weekly. While last night’s premiere had slightly higher ratings than the season 3 finale, it was still down from the previous year’s premiere, with the bump likely attributable to a “look-in” audience curious to see how, or if, the show would be retooled now that several of its main characters have graduated.
And the answer to that question is: not much at all. After several of the characters grades were ret-coned last year to make them younger, we ended up with seven cast members leaving high school, and only four of failing to appear in physical form last night, though they all received mentions and most will have recurring roles throughout the season. Everything else quickly fell right back to normal. New members were added to fulfill the stereotypes vacated by the graduates: the gay guy, the bad boy, the girl star. Meanwhile, the two storylines that could have helped the show evolve have already been sabotaged. Rachel moving to New York for school could have added a new dynamic, instead we get McKinnely, the college version. Even more potentially interesting would have been Curt’s story, as the star who was supposed to make it but didn’t, being forced to live an un-extraordinary existence in the small town. Rather than exploring this, Kurt has moved to New York by the end of the episode to live with Rachel. Given this show’s history, I’d be shocked if Curt isn’t accepted into the arts college with Rachel by Christmas.
I’ll echo what I said before. If you’re not already committed to watching Glee, there is absolutely zero reason to start. It has, at best, two seasons left, but was already in danger of cancellation last year. For myself, I think I’m going to treat this show the same way I do a new series, with the four episode test. If it hasn’t shown some sign of improving by then, I’ll quit watching. I’ve endured two and a half seasons of a terrible show, hoping it would return to the heights it started from, with the occasional glimmer of hope. You can only hold onto that hope for so long.
1959’s Sleeping Beauty spent nearly a decade in development, largely due to the lengthy animation process and reworking, suffering so many delays that Sleeping Beauty’s castle actually opened, with the rest of Disneyland, in 1955, four years before the film even made it to theatres. It was one of only two Disney animated films shot in the widescreen Technorama format (the other being The Black Cauldron), and the last princess film for 30 years. Though it underperformed at the box office in its initial release, it has since gone on to be recognized as one of the jewels of Disney animation.
Technically, the film is amazing. The Technorama process allowed for far more detailed backgrounds than had been used in any previous Disney feature, and the stylized look makes it a favorite among animation enthusiasts. The plot moves quickly, but still allows the characters time to breathe. The weakest point here is the music, attempting to meld lyrics to Tchaikovsky's ballet music, but not overly successfully.
As a child, there were portions of this film that terrified me, particularly the scene where Aurora follows the glowing orb up the staircase to the spinning wheel. Though I’m no longer scared by it, I still find this to be a very effective film, combining humour, action, romance, and a little horror into a cohesive whole. One of the strongest of the Golden Age films and one which will be enjoyed by all but the youngest viewers.
Up next: 101 Dalmatians (1961)
This series is designed as a way to call attention to things, practices, places, activities, or anything else you might not be aware of that I think are worth checking out. I try to cover as wide a variety of topics as I can.
This week it’s all about the new TV season. Some shows have already started to premiere, but, as I mentioned on Monday, my first series begins tomorrow. This year I’ll be starting out with 24 shows, the premieres of which I’ll write up here. I won’t necessarily stick with all of them, though. There are new ones which look iffy, as well as returning shows that are long past their prime, both of which could get the ax to help trim down my currently scheduled 14 hours and 40 minutes of viewing each week.
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Last Resort – September 27Friday
Saturday
I hope you enjoy my my coverage of these series over the coming weeks. What shows will you be checking out?
Sleep well,
DTE
Every week there are tons of newly released films, Blu-rays, books, comics, and CDs, but the truth is, very few of them are worth your time. That’s where this feature comes in. Each posting attempts to highlight the best new media releases of the coming week. It’s far from exhaustive, and of course it will be mostly according to my taste, but I’ll try to do my best to include a wide variety, so hopefully you’ll see something that interests you too.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson is a former Scientologist who left the cult when it became too strange for him to handle, around the time he ascended to the level where he was told the aliens inside all humans travelled here from another planet on massive 747s (I tried, in vain, to find the link to an excellent interview he gave, I believe to Vanity Fair, a few years ago on his experiences with the organization). This film has been a long time coming, but the talent behind the scenes and very promising trailers leave me quite excited to see this one. If it’s playing near you, go check it out.
Glee
Glee has been terrible for most of its three season run. What started out as a promising, dark, and funny show quickly folded under its own weight. Instead of developing any characters or ongoing storyline, it became all about making each scene more wacky than the last, throwing all pretence of continuity or internal logic out the window. With the ratings in a free fall, there’s a good chance this will be its last season, and unless it returns this year with a lot of major corrections, that will be for the best. I’m mentioning it here, not because I think you should watch it (seriously, if you’re not watching it already, there’s really no reason to bother), but because it has the honour of being the first show I’ll be watching for the fall 2012 season. Within the next week I’ll post the schedule of all the shows I’ll be checking out this year and, as always, I’ll post my thoughts on each of the pilots/premieres after they air. It doesn’t look like an overly promising crop of shows this year, but hopefully there will be some pleasant surprises.
Sleep well,
DTE
