Mood Music XXVII

For some reason, I feel like Gold Diggers of 2010 is a remake I could get behind.

Mood Music XXVI

I'm bummed to hear the news about Fall Out Boy breaking up, but crazy thrilled about the accompanying news of Patrick Stump putting out a solo album.

Patrick Stump from Patrick Stump on Vimeo.

I've mused on my love of Stump's voice before, but this looks like an entirely new level of awesomeness. (And if I may be permitted a detour into shallowness, he looks good, too.) He's worked as a producer on some of my favorite non-FOB Decaydance albums (The Hush Sound's Like Vines and The Cab's Whisper War) and I can't wait to see how this endeavor shakes out.

Best of the 00s: Odds and Ends

In reading all the various final season retrospectives on Lost, I realized that I had forgotten yet another favorite music moment, this one from the show's second season premiere.

By now, it's become old hat that Lost's writers end their seasons with insane cliffhangers then pick up the next in a completely different place; in fact, the season three and five openers also begin with new or previously unstudied characters waking up and selecting music. This may have been the most shocking simply due to the novelty of it all - the then-unfamiliar retro Dharma aesthetic paired with the show's flashback structure up until that point made the setting maddeningly oblique up until that final pan up the hatch. Frankly, I don't think I'll ever stop being creeped out by the progression of daily chores culminating in the shot in the arm. The music is perfect, too; I sought out "Make Your Own Kind of Music" soon after this originally aired - Cass Elliot's voice makes the song somehow less silly than it could be with a more soprano singer - and the way Michael Giacchino's always haunting score comes in after the explosion is eerie as ever.

The first four minutes of Tuesday's premiere have apparently leaked online, but watching the opening moments of the other premieres makes it seem more than likely that no substantive information would be available to spoiler-seekers anyway. Personally, I'd like to think that Lindelof and Cuse have another retro track in store, but that's just me.

Books Read: January 2010

Let's try this again!

January 2: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I can't believe it's taken me this long to read Jane Eyre - it's been sitting on the bookshelf taunting me for years and this winter break afforded me the time and inclination to give it a go. However many years ago it was that the movie Becoming Jane came out, a New York Times article observed that Austen fans and Bronte fans are different, because Austen situations that could plausibly happen to you with minor time period adjustments and Bronte situations are so off-the-wall insane that they would never happen to anyone. This is all true, and while it won't replace Pride and Prejudice in my estimation, I still enjoyed Jane Eyre's drama. After reading the Twilight series, I had forgotten what it was like to enjoy a narrator's presence.

January 14: Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

I first picked this book up after seeing its movie adaptation over the summer, but lapsed in reading when the school year began. I was compelled to return to the book after reading some of the press surrounding Powell's second book, Cleaving, particularly Powell's own posts on the DoubleX blog. (Slate being one of the few things I feel legit about reading while I'm at work.) I was intrigued in particular by Powell addressing a statement Amy Adams made regarding Cleaving's account of infidelity; namely that Adams had reacted by saying that "her" Julie Powell wouldn't have cheated on her husband. The differences between books and film adaptations are always interesting to parse; in this case, Powell's personality was dramatically flattened in the transition from "real life" to the screen. Film Julie seems to have a lot more in common with the other wide-eyed characters Adams has played in the years since Junebug that she does with the endearingly sarcastic woman who comes through in the written Julie and Julia. As someone who's recently tried to embrace cooking and baking with a small kitchen and a middling electric stove of wavering temperature, I couldn't help but identify with the ups and downs of Powell's quest. I can understand why Nora Ephron focused more on the vibrant personality and well-known persona of Julia Child in the film, but it would have been nice to see more of, say, Powell's love of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or her hilariously expressed crush on David Strathairn.

Quoted

"Undoubtedly, though, what I'm really getting at is this: Since the bridegroom's permanent retirement from the scene, I haven't been able to think of anybody whom I'd care to send out to look for horses in his stead."

-J.D. Salinger

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters

When I got home from work and saw that Salinger died, the above quote popped into my head; it's always stuck with me as a simple invocation of the fundamental irreplaceability of a singular human presence in one's life. Maybe I'll say more later, for now I'll just leave it there.

Legal TV

Don't watch this clip if you ever want to watch Damages unspoiled, but this is one of the best "previously on..." segments I've ever seen.

In just two minutes, this collection of snippets from the past two seasons which opened last night's season premiere managed to evoke all the show's complexity and darkness. The segment's closing reel of the show's major character deaths to date served as the perfect climax - I hope Lost does something similar in opening their season next week, especially if the timeline does reset.

I've been thinking about Damages recently not only because of the new season starting, but also in relation to the premiere of The Deep End last week. Deep End gets compared to Grey's Anatomy frequently, but it shares a lot with Damages in claiming to depict a sort of high-flying, moneyed legal world. The difference is that The Deep End seems to function in a black-and-white universe - money grubbing sharks BAD! pro bono work GOOD! (I mean, obviously pro bono work is good, but pretending that a big fancy law firm wouldn't love the good press that can come out of devoting some hours to philanthropy is just dumb) - while Damages has carved a unique niche within the often rote law-firm-set television subgenre by taking a shark character and making her the champion of the "little guy" in representing class-action plaintiffs. The writers of Damages have created a wonderfully nuanced show by residing solely in grey areas, and the people who make The Deep End could learn a thing or two from them going forward.

Mood Music XXV

Velvet Goldmine is one of those movies where I always forget how much I like it until I'm watching it again. No director has quite the same flair for era-evocation as Todd Haynes. So, recently I caught this on TV and decided that I needed to stop dithering and just buy the soundtrack. And now I kind of can't stop listening to it...

Best of the 00s: Hiatus

Okay, so clearly I should have just started the whole "Best of the 00s" thing in the summer when I started making my lists rather than waiting until November and accruing this insane backlog of posts while simultaneously facing the end-of-semester writing crush. Long story short, I need to focus my writing energies on my thesis no matter how much I'd rather be committing hundreds of words to pop culture minutiae. Posting the Showrunner list without commentary was so personally unsatisfactory that I'll probably just add here and there to the lists I've got and post them whenever they're done. (The fact that I'd rather write so much about television than, say, myths of national origin highlights the fundamental flaw of my thesis. I'm planning to do something about that in looking ahead to comps.) So here are the "Best of the 00s" lists in the pipeline:

Best Romantic Chemistry

Best Season Finales

Best Series Finales

My Favorite Albums

My Favorite Movies

Favorite Actors and Actresses

I'm torn about whether or not to do master lists of Best Comedies and Dramas from television - you can probably guess what they are just from level of recurrence across all the various posts. I'd also like to return in the future to some ongoing themes from the past - I never did finish my favorite book-to-movie adaptations (there are two more posts there) and I'd really like to pick up the Musicalfest thread again (the recent uptick in Gerard Butler's popularity prompted me to recently rewatch The Phantom of the Opera - what a deeply weird story that is). Anyway, it'll probably just be miscellaneous brief posts until I metaphorically wrestle my thesis to the ground. Believe me, I'd rather be doing this.

Mood Music XXIV

The Dear John trailer/commercials so thoroughly wedged this song in my head that last night I finally reached the saturation point where I go "WHAT IS THIS SONG? WHO SINGS IT? I MUST OWN IT NOW." (This happens frequently with me, and is just one of the many reasons I am an ideal media consumer.)

Best of the 00s: One Season Wonders and Other Short-Lived Shows

Freaks and Geeks (NBC, 1999-2000)

Looking back at the decade, I see Freaks and Geeks as a formative show in my media consumer evolution. It was the first show that I loved that wasn't watched by very many people, and the first I watched that was cancelled mid-season. I was a thirteen-year-old eighth grader and I couldn't believe that no one around me was embracing this show I found so amazing. Its cancellation was also the first time that I really thought about the relationship between networks and viewers - I briefly considered boycotting NBC, but realized that the absence of one Nielsen-box-free tween wasn't going to make a bit of difference. Finally, the complete series was also the first DVD box set I bought on my own. I *may* have raised the box over my head and done a celebratory dance in the store - maybe.

Undeclared (Fox, 2001-2002)

Undeclared has never quite received as much press as Freaks and Geeks within the Judd Apatow pantheon, but it deserves to be recognized for a take on college life that was funny and authentic. Jay Baruchel's gangly geekiness may never be better served.

Wonderfalls (Fox, 2004)

One of Bryan Fuller's imaginative spotlights in the decade's TV landscape, Wonderfalls is distinguished by a delightfully cynical heroine - twenty-something slacker Jaye remains rare among young women as depicted on television - and a uniquely quirky concept - Jaye hears what may or may not be the voice of God advising her through inanimate objects.

Reunion (Fox, 2005-2006)

As much flak as Fox gets for quickly canceling underperforming shows, they probably showed the most willingness to give oddball shows a chance of any of the networks over the past decade. Case in point - Reunion. The show was probably too overstuffed, concept-wise, featuring a murder mystery revolving around six high school friends with each episode taking place in a different year beginning in the mid-eighties. In the early episodes, at least, it was just clever enough to be innovative, drawing out the present-day character introductions to gradually sculpt the mystery and featuring some fantastically soapy twists. As cheesy as it could sometimes be, it deserved a full season.

The Black Donnellys (NBC, 2007)

The Black Donnellys may have been better in theory than in execution - the show's mythologizing of the early years of four brothers who it was implied would become well-known criminals always made the show's future seem more interesting than its present. It wasn't helped by the fact that shows on cable had the freedom to display the kind of violence necessary to driving home to consequences of living in a criminal world. Still, it was probably the best that could be done with a modern gangster show on a major network.

Swingtown (CBS, 2008)

When critics talk about Swingtown, they often remark that the show might have been better served had it been picked up by a cable network rather than notoriously stodgy CBS. To me this implies that the show's problem was insufficient salaciousness, but it was always more about the emotional fallout of testing a marriage's sexual boundaries than the act itself. It was pretty much doomed from the start - airing on Friday nights during the summer (remember when there used to be original programming on Saturday nights? That feels like another age entirely) - but the show's central six actors - Jack Davenport, Molly Parker, Josh Hopkins, Miriam Shor, Grant Show, and Lana Parilla - made the material vibrantly heartfelt.

Kings (NBC, 2009)

To return to the previous point, it's easy to see how Kings might have been served by being a cable property rather than a network one, particularly with NBC's fraught relationship with scripted dramas over the past few years. Kings displayed the kind of ambition that is rarely seen in any new shows, modernizing the Biblical story of Saul and David and mixing in grandiose Shakespearean overtones, featuring riveting performances by Ian McShane and Sebastian Stan. All the episodes are on Hulu - I highly recommend it.

Joan of Arcadia (CBS, 2003-2005)

Recently (I want to say New Years Eve or Day) I got sucked into watching a mini-marathon of Joan of Arcadia on SyFy with my sister and mother. I'd forgotten what a warm show JoA was; the "God speaks to teen girl" premise could have been much cheesier than it was - instead it exemplified the best of what "family" television can be. Plus, any show where you can nickname a recurring character "Hot God" definitely merits inclusion on a best-of list.

Dirty Sexy Money (ABC, 2007-2009)

I don't talk about it very often, but I love soaps. The unabashed embrace of melodrama and sense of freedom from conventional narratives often creates thrillingly outlandish TV. In its first season, DSM embraced the ethos of classic primetime soaps like Dallas and Dynasty, particularly aided by great family chemistry among the actors playing the self-absorbed, moneyed Darlings. The show tried to do too much in its post-writers-strike second season, but there was a brief moment when it seemed like it could start a true 80s revival.

Pushing Daisies (ABC, 2007-2009)

Pushing Daisies presented such a vibrant visual world, any attempt at verbal description feels automatically insufficient. Like Bryan Fuller's other shows, Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me, Daisies was so unique that it was almost shocking that it ever made it to air. The show's murder mystery structure kept its bright, inventive universe from veering too far into twee-ness and the central quartet of Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Kristin Chenoweth and Chi McBride were uniformly excellent.

Life (NBC, 2007-2009)

With better ratings, Life should have made Damian Lewis the next Hugh Laurie - that is, a Brit playing a quirky American in a semi-procedural show. I can't say I quite recall how Life's twisty conspiracy ultimately ended, but it offered just enough of a twist on the average cop show to be engaging.

Dollhouse (Fox, 2009-2010)

Sure, Dollhouse hasn't quite ended yet, but it still qualifies with only two thirteen-episode seasons. Dollhouse was a slow starter - Fox executive interference is credited for emphasizing procedural repetition in the early episodes. As the first season came to an end, particularly in the DVD-only finale "Epitaph One," the writers began to explore the darker implications of the show's central identity-wiping technology and made it one of televisions most uniquely compelling hours.

Best of the 00s: Favorite Episodes

Alias, "Phase One," 1/26/03

It's always interesting to see how the networks use the post-Super Bowl slot. Some launch new shows, others feature guest-star-packed episodes of already popular shows. Another tactic is to use the slot to try to juice the ratings of a good show that may not be getting the attention it deserves. At the beginning of 2003 Alias was in the middle of its second season, critically beloved but with middling ratings. Blessed by ABC with the post-Super Bowl opportunity, J.J. Abrams and company pulled out a "Go Big or Go Home" episode that functioned as a rare mid-season gamechanger in exploding the show's structure. The elimination of SD-6 and its partners, which erased Sydney's status as a double agent and freed her to finally make out with Vaughn, was an unquestionably bold move for the show and one that paid off, at least until the season-ending time jump. The episode-ending shot of Francie shot through the head by her double remains, for me, one of the most haunting images of the decade in TV.

Arrested Development, "Motherboy XXX," 3/13/05

One of the things that made AD great was the show's offbeat universe. Motherboy is one of the more fantastically weird creations, building on Lucille and Buster's codependent relationship by introducing a creepy mother-son costumed dance. The building insanity that ensues when Lucille decides to kidnap George Michael rather than deal with Buster's recent hand loss features some of the show's funniest situations and images - my personal favorite is Jessica Walter and Michael Cera in costume as Sonny and Cher. What's more, the episode also features the excellent meta reference of having Henry Winkler jump over a shark, which the writers must have found too irresistible to exclude.

Veronica Mars, "A Trip to the Dentist," 5/3/05

I've already written about how much I love this episode, so those points don't really need to be reiterated. Tightly written, evocative of the insularity of high school, fully rooted in the show's universe, features Teddy Dunn's best scenes as Duncan, brilliantly sets up the following season finale. What more could you ask for?

The Office, "The Dundies," 9/20/05

As the show's second-season premiere, "The Dundies" was a big show for The Office. The show's writers needed to prove that they could move out from the shadow of the British original and be more dynamic than the slow-starter first season. The Mindy Kaling-penned episode does all that and more, working to more clearly establish the Dunder Mifflin staff outside of the main credits group and making Michael Scott a noticeably softer character than David Brent.

How I Met Your Mother, "Slap Bet," 11/20/06

HIMYM is a show with writers who love continuity - that is, continued references to people, places and things contained within the show's universe. One of the best things about "Slap Bet" is that the first time you watch it, if you're unspoiled, the ending is impossible to predict. Robin's cagey refusal to go to the mall leads to the rest of the group speculating on her rationale, leading to the infamous titular bet between Barney and Marshall. The ultimate revelation of Robin's past as a Canadian pop star (with hit single "Let's Go to the Mall") makes the episode great. The launching of the running joke of the slap bet, with Marshall ultimately winning the opportunity to slap Barney five times from now until he dies, makes the episode classic.

Battlestar Galactica, "Unfinished Business," 12/1/06

Any show that utilizes a significant jump in time - say, a year or more - ultimately faces the dilemma of how to deal with the lost time afterward. Too much exposition renders the jump essentially pointless, while too little can leave viewers with a surplus of unanswered questions. "Unfinished Business" found the perfect level of revelation - focusing on one hopeful day early in the New Caprica settlement emphasizes the origins of the descent into misery that defined BSG's third season, while still leaving much to the imagination in the time jump. The framing device of military-rank-independent boxing serves the flashbacks so well that it doesn't feel as abruptly introduced as it could have been and allows for great little character moments from Tigh, Cottle and especially Roslin. Truthfully, it's also probably the last time Lee and Kara's relationship (see clip below) didn't seem like it was based on creating needless drama out of thin air.

30 Rock, "Hardball," 2/22/07

30 Rock's stellar first season is full of gems, but this has always been my favorite. One of 30 Rock's best ongoing devices is bringing in real NBC personalities to give the show's universe a semi-fictional air (the best, in my opinion, have been Lester Holt announcing that the Black Crusaders are after Tracy, and any time Brian Williams is on.) This episode's use of Chris Matthews and Tucker Carlson, as Jenna appears on Hardball to apologize for an unintended slight against America's troops, results in some of Jane Krakowski's best work as Jenna. The subplots of "Jack loves negotiating" (which culminates in the clip below) and "Kenneth joins Tracy's entourage" (featuring what I believe is the first appearance of "I love x so much I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant." - the first "x" is cornbread, and Jack McBrayer's quiet "Pregnant cornbread...?" is an unbelievably great line reading) make this an example of 30 Rock firing on all cylinders.

Friday Night Lights, "Mud Bowl," 3/28/07

FNL's first season march to the state championship provided a lot of great moments, but "Mud Bowl" was the best. A train accident leads to a chemical spill that disrupts the Panthers' home field advantage, the coach finds a replacement in a cow pasture (with live cows!) and pouring rain turns the field into a mud pit during the climactic game - all fabulously serving FNL's homegrown/verité aesthetic. The show has always used filming in Texas to its advantage, but this is the episode where the show really dug into its non-Hollywood, non-soundstage location and brought up a gem.

Best of the 00s: Odds and Ends

Okay, so this has gotten a little out of hand, and obviously is going to have to bleed over into the new year. I'm sure you don't care, but: I forgive myself for being completely unable to adhere to any sort of posting timetable. Cue the last minute and a half of "A Quick One While He's Away."

I think this is probably my favorite individual television scene of the decade - this was the first new episode I watched after catching up on the show, and after purchasing it on iTunes, I kept returning to this scene and watching it over again. The third season of Battlestar Galactica was wildly uneven quality-wise, but it contains some of my favorite episodes and moments of the entire series. I was sort of baffled by the people who criticized BSG for getting too religious in the final season - from the very beginning, the show featured its characters attempting to explain and contend with circumstances beyond their control in a manner that always seemed to be at least partially rooted in religious faith (not to mention the LDS-referencing touches left over from Glen Larson's original series.) This scene highlights that sense of faith, viewed through the prism of the show's unique mythology. I don't know that the decade in television had any other couple put through the grinder quite like Helo and Athena, but Tahmoh Penikett and Grace Park's ability in playing the highs and lows made them one of my favorite things about a very good show.

Best of the 00s: Best Showrunners, Creators and Head Writers

I can't decide whether I want this list to be super-detailed or not. I'll just leave it as is and adjust if the mood strikes.

J.J. Abrams (Felicity, Alias, Lost, Fringe)

Judd Apatow and Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared)

Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, True Blood)

Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock)

Bryan Fuller (Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies)

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras)

Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice)

Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The O.C., Gossip Girl, Chuck)

Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars, Party Down)

Matthew Weiner (Mad Men)

Best of the 00s: Best Film Soundtracks

Almost Famous

It's no surprise that Cameron Crowe could put together a winning collection of seventies rock; his use of "Tiny Dancer" endures as a great musical moment.

Standout Songs: "Tiny Dancer," "Tangerine"

Josie and the Pussycats

This comic book movie/teen satire didn't need to have a great soundtrack, but the power pop that appears throughout would work even independent of the film.

Standout Songs: "Three Small Words," "Spin Around"

The Royal Tenenbaums

In my opinion, Mark Mothersbaugh's best score for Wes Anderson, plus dreamy tracks from the Rolling Stones and Nico, among others.

Standout Songs: "Needle in the Hay (if anyone wanted a 2.5 minute explanation of why Luke Wilson's AT&T ads are currently depressing me, that clip's as good as any)," "She Smiled Sweetly"

Kill Bill, Vol. 1

Yet another of Quentin Tarantino's patchwork collections of songs - however disparate, they always fit together in his vision.

Standout Songs: "Battle Without Honor or Humanity," "Nobody But Me"

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

A soundtrack I admittedly like better than the film it came from - Seu Jorge's Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs are a wholly unique contribution to the decade's music in film.

Standout Songs: "Starman," "Search and Destroy"

Marie Antoinette

Using New Wave to score a story of 18th-century teen royals shouldn't have worked, but it somehow completes Sofia Coppola's shimmering vision.

Standout Songs: "Hong Kong Garden," "What Ever Happened"

Once

It's no surprise that a film that portrays the process of creating music with such care resulted in a beautiful soundtrack, but it still feels revelatory.

Standout Songs: "Falling Slowly," "When Your Mind's Made Up"

Juno

What makes this soundtrack great: even if Kimya Dawson makes you want to light a rhyming dictionary on fire, there are still light retro tracks and beautiful songs like Cat Power's cover of "Sea of Love" that redeem it.

Standout Songs: "Anyone Else But You," "Sea of Love"

Twilight

A perfect mix of music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas' indie sensibility and author Stephenie Meyer's taste in moody rock.

Standout Songs: "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," "Supermassive Black Hole"

Best of the 00s: Odds and Ends

Camp is a bit hit-or-miss as a complete film, but its stagings of musical numbers from shows-within-the-show (most, if not all of which are from musicals that hadn't made it to the screen at the time) are fairly spot on. The increasing Oscar buzz around Anna Kendrick makes this as good a time as any to share this clip:

A list that never quite became as fully formed as I liked was "Musicals I Hope Will Be Made into Movies in the 2010s." However, Company is unequivocally at the top of that list. It's a fantastically cynical show, which might change some musical-hating minds, and it's a great ensemble piece. "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" played so well in Dreamgirls (talk about your uneven movies), I'm dying to see an actor with pipes to do the same to "Being Alive." It would also be nice to see someone new - that is, outside of the Marshall-Condon-Ortega-Shankman group - offer a different take on the twenty-first century film musical like the eye Tim Burton brought to Sweeney Todd. Maybe Sam Mendes? His films can tend to be terribly self-serious, but the experience from his celebrated stage take on Cabaret plus his affinity for marital angst just might work for Company.