Dexter % % % %

I'm still not totally sold.


But it's well written, acted and directed. Michael C. Hall is great. I love everyone from Six Feet Under so much, that sometimes, I miss them. Like old friends, I miss them. It's pathetic, but damn those were some well written characters. The writing got a little wobbly towards the end. But damn. I loved that show. I cried when it ended because it was over. And because the ending broke my heart. I still get wistful thinking about Keith.

So, my SFU aside aside, I think the writing on Dexter is great too. And it's totally quality visually. But... I don't know if I care yet. I don't know if I care about the characters. And really this is the challenge of a show about a likeable serial killer. So we'll see. I'm not totally convinced yet, but I do like the progressions of the characters that I've seen thus far. And it is a fascinating conceit that anyone would have a parent who loves them so much, that regardless of one's inclinations, habits or compulsions, that a parent might still help them to fit into society. I'm sure most parents like to think that they adjusted their parenting to the people that their kids presented as, but I think it's far more likely that most parents try their damnedest to make you fit their idea of you. Which, perhaps is really what happened to Dexter. And it is this conundrum that is drawing me on.

Keep up the good writing and I'll keep watching. And maybe I'll change my review to 5 %s.

Zodiac - % % % %

Following a set of characters of varying connection with the Zodiac murders over a period of 25 years is a tall task. Like biopics, true life historical films are tricky. Real life is just too random, boring, disconnected and NON NARRATIVE. It doesn't fit the stories we like to tell, because inherently the stories we like make us feel better about our lives by implying that there's order or meaning or resolution, when really there's very little of any of that. So I'm pretty impressed by the way that Zodiac creates a traditional emotional narrative arc out of material without any peak in action, aside from the murders that start everything, and a notoriously poor resolution. Just to let the cat out of the bag, no one is every arrested for the murders. Nor does anyone know for sure which murders should really be attributed to the Zodiac killer.

By focusing on the author of the true crime book on the Zodiac case, played by Jake Gyllenhaal in an earnest but childishly naive and foppish manner, the screenwriter garners the viewers' sympathy. We, like Gyllenhaal, are intrigued, fascinated by the seeming randomness of the killings, and perplexed by the letters and puzzles. But the middle of the film focuses on the actual police work, spread out over many years. The lead to the likely killer and his character development isn't exciting. The actor isn't creepy in a Hannibal Lector way, nor is he terrifying in a suspicious or secretive manner. He's just weird. And his trailer full of squirrels isn't as scary as it should be. Squirrels are crazy when trapped inside. They scrape up the walls and tear down curtains. They just weren't scary enough.

So all we're left with is the itch. And Jake the cutie. And he pushes his family away. And I could see what he was doing and that it was bad, but I didn't care. Chloe Sevigne was so mousy she was empty. So I didn't care that she left. I was glad that she took her sour face out of the film. His kids are cute, but I figured they understood, and it seems so, since they enjoy helping their dad with clues in the case.

But I will admit that the filmmakers made the climax and resolution work. They pulled it essentially out of thin air, but emotionally it was good. Jake follows a lead to a creepy house and I was sure terrified. Now that guy was creepy and ominous and threatening. And of course the basement was scary and there was a locked door full of tension. Following this the film follows with the publishing of the true crime book and the finale, the only living witness is found and identifies the main suspect. In titles, we learn that the suspect died just before they could interrogate him on the basis of this new evidence. But this ID gives the audience confidence that we know who done it. It feels resolved. And we learn that Jake's kids still love him, even though, presumably, his wife does not.

Not a great film, but competently filmmed by Fincher, our modern, precise, Hitchcockian auteur. And the story is intriguing because it's true, and we're all sickos fascinated by serial killers and kooks.

I was left scared and reminded that the killer lived for years after the murders, free to molest kids, go to jail and generally to live his life freely without justice for these crimes. Which then reminded me of the BTK murderer, who lived in suburban safety with a family and a community, all unaware of his horrible horrible actions. Killers do live among us, and aren't we all unpunished criminals in one way or another. Not that we're all sickos, just that our justice system is a great sieve.

Things you should read:

"LaVena Johnson died in Iraq on July 19, 2005. The seemingly happy and healthy 19-year old Private First Class soldier was found dead by a gunshot wound with bruising, a dislocated shoulder, an indication that someone tried to set her body on fire, and a number of other signs including a blood trail outside of the tent she was found in. But despite all of these factors, the U.S. Army declared that her death was caused by suicide and shut the case quietly."
From feministing.com

The greater outrage
We are more aghast at Michael Vick's crimes against animals than athletes' crimes against women. And that is criminal.
Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune
Do you ever think that the women in abusive relationships ask for it, are gold diggers willing to live like mercenaries (I'm lookin at you, Kanye), or are idiots who deserve what they get if they won't just leave? Hmmm... because life is ever that simplistic.

The New Science of Netflix Addiction

I hang on my postman's every step. It's true. I curse him when he doesn't show. I've written letters, angry letters, to the post office snitching on him.

I check my queues (yes, queues - plural) and make adjustments several times a day. The reason I have several queues is that you can only have 500 titles in one queue. So I created other family members. There are just too many movies to see. They're constantly coming out, pouring out faster and faster as technology changes. And then there's the backlog of classics, historically relevant or cult films that have influenced the films I love. It goes on and on, like an endless waterfall. (Jonathan Rosenbaum, a film critic for the Reader, makes this point in a couple of places but particularly in Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Cannons.)

And I've gotten my friends to match up with me on the site and now I can stalk them and their movie choices. I find it fascinating what they think is brilliant or ass. I love the list of films that we all agree on. No.1 is Monty Python and the Holy Grail (brilliant!) And then there are the comment debates. I love being opinionated and riling up others. I find we're all too complacent and blah and unfortunately sometimes an assinine statement can be quite enlightening. Assuming of course that we're all adults and willing to admit that we can be wrong and be proud of our endless process of maturation. An unexamined life and all that...

So a great deal of my entries are going to be about all the films I rent.

I will also make this disclaimer. I am deeply saddened by my contributions to the demise of the movie theater. I've got a big projector at home and a giant screen so I can watch really big pictures at home. I do lose out on the beauty of film, but for all the money I'm saving, and I'm one of the many living paycheck to paycheck, there's not enough remorse to make me sacrifice any more financially. I don't have cable, so it's all through DVD rental. I wish that for all the moping that critics make about the mainstream audience abandoning theaters and watching little pictures, that more would encourage people to buy projectors and watch movies on the walls of their bedrooms. It's bomb. I know too, that I'm contributing to the every progressing modern isolation that began with the radio and was cemented by the television, but I can smoke and drink at my movie theater and did I mention that I can watch the big screen from my bed? Yeah. It's bomb.

Aight, I'll have much more to say about my netflix jones in the future. I'm bout to watch Dr. Who season 3 from my bed from a burned cd copy of a friends. All the good side of technology. May I be aware enough to combat the dark side.

In the beginning

So I've created this blog in order to chit chat about all the movies I watch and my various associated opinions and passions. Lord knows I need to channel all those hours into something purposeful. But I'm hoping this'll be a good way to develop those ideas and passions by flushing them out, exposing them to the world (that is priviledged enough to afford or gain access to the internet), and hopefully connect with others of a similar mind or not.

I enjoy alot of entertainment, but I'm willing to throw myself into the fire and watch something that may not fulfill the nagging desires of my short attention span. Hell, I'll sit through anything. I've seen Salo. I made it all the way through Dragonheart and the Dreamcatcher. There's very little I won't expose myself to. I'm generally pretty curious. But that's not to say that I won't trash talk the garbage afterwards. But I'm hoping to develop some constructive critical skills. I'm too intuitive and informed by a modern sensibility.

So bear with me if you disagree with something I write. I'd appreciate the benefit of the doubt. I'll try to be open to other ideas. I do think that syncreticism is possible through dialogue. We can all come to understand each other. That doesn't equal agreement. I hold my beliefs very passionately. I've come to them through a fair amount of thought and purpose.

So here goes.