Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Maybe my letter-writing campaign finally paid off
Friday, February 24, 2006
The Drunk Dial Hotline
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Wednesday night's all right for fighting.
posted by RICK : 10:30 PM
With February sweeps just about over (most of the networks held off their A-games this year so as to not confuse people really-really wanting to watch 14 consecutive hours of ice-skating) we are finally heading into the back stretch of the ’05-’06 television season. This hasn’t been a particularly good year for new programming (did anyone catch Emily’s Reasons Why Not?). Last year’s new shows, however, seem to be thriving (or the closest equivalent). Two of the best were Lost and Veronica Mars. Sharing the same time-slot, and quite possibly much of the same audience, the two series illustrate diametrically opposing forces of the same beast: the expertly crafted uber-mystery.
Lost went into season two as the obvious champ both in terms of audience size and cultural importance, spawning some of the most interesting water-cooler talk in what seemed to be ages. More important, it helped contribute to the current renaissance in narrative television (Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy also played a part—thanks ABC—but Lost was the weirdest, and for better or for worse, that made it the best—at least on broadcast). Lost proved that audiences not only want stories that build over time, but showed that they’ll stick around to see how things turn out. If this means that one fewer police procedural will make it to air in the future, then by-God they’ve done their job.
This season’s premiere episode started out with a literal bang in what should only be described as one of the single greatest reveals in the history of time-based-entertainment. Hyperbole aside, it was particularly kick-ass (for those of you who enjoy having your memory jogged, we started this season inside the mysterious hatch—unbeknownst to us at the time—following around some dude as he worked out and listened to an exceptionally catchy song by The Momma’s and The Papa’s only for the aforementioned ‘bang’ to cause this mystery man to grab a rifle and run though the complex’s hallways eventually resulting in our climb up the very tunnel we descended during the season finale three months earlier). Unfortunately, from that point forward the show took an ill-advised seven-episode u-turn in an attempt to answer questions we were never all that concerned about in the first place. Along the way we were introduced to the obligatory second-season “new characters,” like Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), a woman so unlikable she couldn’t find a way to eke out a drop of sympathy from us even after we discover she was a former cop who was shot while pregnant (hopefully recent D.U.I. charges in Hawaii may cause Ms. Rodriguez to be written out of the show sooner than later. I’m hoping she’s written out by that giant polar bear).
The brightest spot of this season came from an episode that aired on February 8th, entitled “The Long Con,” in which Sawyer (Josh Holloway) steals a massive collection of guns on the island over the course of a—wait for it—long con. The episode, arguably the season’s best, worked because it wasn’t trying to shock you with a seemingly endless barrage of island-mythology, but instead by doing what the series did best in season one: using the framework of the island to tell complex character stories. That, and employing some old-school slight-of-hand where upon the big revelation you just can’t believe you didn’t figure it out sooner. “The Long Con” proved that Lost is still as sharp a piece of televised drama as one could ask for, and its stellar ratings suggest it isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
This, of course, leads right to Veronica Mars—the most recent entry into the peculiar genre of television programming also home to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Firefly, and Alias among others. Let’s call the genre “Whebrams,” as all of those shows either could have or did come from J.J. Abrams or Joss Whedon. They’re high-concept series, frequently with snarky leads, strong female characters and a good-dose of old-fashioned melodrama added in for taste. And aside from Alias (and Lost) they all air (or aired) on the one of the bottom three networks (Fox, UPN, WB), which in most cases has resulted in the creation of a popular (if select) niche. The drawback being that said niche overlaps almost perfectly from series to series but especially between Veronica Mars and Lost, likely resulting in certain shows drawing fewer viewers than they perhaps otherwise would. Not all of Lost’s audience will want to tune in for Veronica Mars, but I can only imagine that most of Veronica Mars’ audience will want to tune in for Lost, which is maddening for a fan of both shows (of course BitTorrent and the ever-present DVR make almost all of these worries a thing of the past, but seeing as how the ratings model fails to adjust to any of this makes the conflict remain).
Luckily Veronica Mars isn’t on the chopping block just yet, and next year’s merger of UPN and the WB into the ridiculously named “The CW” may end up addressing this issue. The catch is until Veronica Mars is moved to a different time slot it will be forever know as “The show I’m watching instead of Lost,” and can’t be judged on its own merits—merits that are quite good.
This season also got started with a bang and by ‘bang’ I mean ‘school bus full of kids getting driven off a cliff.’ The bus crash has been the driving force (PUN INTENDED) behind the action of this season, much as the Lilly Cane murder propelled the episodes of season-one. The writing is as tight as always. Part of what makes Veronica Mars so appealing is that it couldn’t be more unrealistic—just like Lost—and yet highly believable. Not only is Neptune High unlike your high school, it’s unlike anyone’s high school. Based on the thirty-seven episodes that have aired thus far, Neptune, California, has painted itself as Raymond Chandler’s wet-dream: people constantly missing, murders galore, and endless motives, and at the center of all of it is Veronica Mars herself (Kristin Bell) acting as Philip Marlow.
Like Lost, Veronica Mars’ peak this season came recently. In an episode entitled, “Donut Run” creator and non-Matchbox-20-lead-singer Rob Thomas wrote one of the most ingenious scripts of this or any season. The episode not only broke with the show’s tradition of having Veronica narrate each episode (a turn that only became evident in the episodes closing moments), but was packed with enough twists to make even Sawyer find his ‘Long Con’ to be mere child’s play. “Donut Run” was an episode so remarkable, all other television in 2006 should be rated against it-- yes, even the new Sopranos season. And it wasn’t just in the intricate plotting, Mr. Thomas included a myriad moments of inspiration. In one scene after Veronica is dumped by her boyfriend she goes to her room and puts on “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” by Al Green to sulk. But the song doesn’t come from an Al Green record, instead from The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack, obviously a gentle nod to the moment itself, but also points to the undeniable fact that high school girls LOVE soundtracks. These subtle realities placed within the context of a show that makes no bones about how utterly ridiculous it actually is, creates a kind of peanut-butter-and-chocolate relationship on the screen—tasty.
Aesthetically, both Lost and Veronica Mars are joys to looks at. Of course, being shot in Hawaii doesn’t hurt for Lost. There are no shortages of luscious greens to fill the frame and, well, for a bunch of people who have been stranded on an island for two months, they couldn’t be any easier on the eyes. Veronica Mars is able to push the visual boundary another way altogether though its refreshing use of wide-angle lenses. And not in a “Oh no, I’m so drunk, everything’s all wide-angle and I’m getting dizzy” sort of way, instead Veronica Mars looks much closer to Coen Brothers—like Raising Arizona—with its ability to place interesting characters within just-crazy-enough sets and then let the natural distortion of a short lens do the rest of the work. Barry Sonenfeld, the Coen’s one-time D.P. said it best in an interview on the Miller’s Crossing DVD, “Long lenses are serious, and short lenses are funny.” Wonderfully put.
Perhaps that’s really what this time-slot battle comes down to: the difference between a “long-lens-show” and a “short-lens-show.” Lost is serious television, no matter how maddening it may become, and audiences respond to that more than to a show that’s funny, or quirky, or god-forbid, funny and quirky. That’s probably the reason why there are rarely any comedies in the Neilson top-ten. Americans, the busy bunch that they are, figure if they’re going to give an hour of their life over to something every Wednesday at nine, it might as well be something grand, which is exactly why Veronica Mars can never live up to its ABC-fueled cousin despite it being, at least this season, much better.
Lost (season 2) * * * of 4
Veronica Mars (season 2) * * * 1/2 of 4
0 Comments
Pansy
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday Morning Post
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Crimson Album
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Mother Paris = joke or no?
posted by Anonymous : 7:12 PM
Today IMDb reports:
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
The Drunk Dial Hotline
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Wednesday night's all right for fighting.
posted by RICK : 10:30 PM
With February sweeps just about over (most of the networks held off their A-games this year so as to not confuse people really-really wanting to watch 14 consecutive hours of ice-skating) we are finally heading into the back stretch of the ’05-’06 television season. This hasn’t been a particularly good year for new programming (did anyone catch Emily’s Reasons Why Not?). Last year’s new shows, however, seem to be thriving (or the closest equivalent). Two of the best were Lost and Veronica Mars. Sharing the same time-slot, and quite possibly much of the same audience, the two series illustrate diametrically opposing forces of the same beast: the expertly crafted uber-mystery.
Lost went into season two as the obvious champ both in terms of audience size and cultural importance, spawning some of the most interesting water-cooler talk in what seemed to be ages. More important, it helped contribute to the current renaissance in narrative television (Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy also played a part—thanks ABC—but Lost was the weirdest, and for better or for worse, that made it the best—at least on broadcast). Lost proved that audiences not only want stories that build over time, but showed that they’ll stick around to see how things turn out. If this means that one fewer police procedural will make it to air in the future, then by-God they’ve done their job.
This season’s premiere episode started out with a literal bang in what should only be described as one of the single greatest reveals in the history of time-based-entertainment. Hyperbole aside, it was particularly kick-ass (for those of you who enjoy having your memory jogged, we started this season inside the mysterious hatch—unbeknownst to us at the time—following around some dude as he worked out and listened to an exceptionally catchy song by The Momma’s and The Papa’s only for the aforementioned ‘bang’ to cause this mystery man to grab a rifle and run though the complex’s hallways eventually resulting in our climb up the very tunnel we descended during the season finale three months earlier). Unfortunately, from that point forward the show took an ill-advised seven-episode u-turn in an attempt to answer questions we were never all that concerned about in the first place. Along the way we were introduced to the obligatory second-season “new characters,” like Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), a woman so unlikable she couldn’t find a way to eke out a drop of sympathy from us even after we discover she was a former cop who was shot while pregnant (hopefully recent D.U.I. charges in Hawaii may cause Ms. Rodriguez to be written out of the show sooner than later. I’m hoping she’s written out by that giant polar bear).
The brightest spot of this season came from an episode that aired on February 8th, entitled “The Long Con,” in which Sawyer (Josh Holloway) steals a massive collection of guns on the island over the course of a—wait for it—long con. The episode, arguably the season’s best, worked because it wasn’t trying to shock you with a seemingly endless barrage of island-mythology, but instead by doing what the series did best in season one: using the framework of the island to tell complex character stories. That, and employing some old-school slight-of-hand where upon the big revelation you just can’t believe you didn’t figure it out sooner. “The Long Con” proved that Lost is still as sharp a piece of televised drama as one could ask for, and its stellar ratings suggest it isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
This, of course, leads right to Veronica Mars—the most recent entry into the peculiar genre of television programming also home to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Firefly, and Alias among others. Let’s call the genre “Whebrams,” as all of those shows either could have or did come from J.J. Abrams or Joss Whedon. They’re high-concept series, frequently with snarky leads, strong female characters and a good-dose of old-fashioned melodrama added in for taste. And aside from Alias (and Lost) they all air (or aired) on the one of the bottom three networks (Fox, UPN, WB), which in most cases has resulted in the creation of a popular (if select) niche. The drawback being that said niche overlaps almost perfectly from series to series but especially between Veronica Mars and Lost, likely resulting in certain shows drawing fewer viewers than they perhaps otherwise would. Not all of Lost’s audience will want to tune in for Veronica Mars, but I can only imagine that most of Veronica Mars’ audience will want to tune in for Lost, which is maddening for a fan of both shows (of course BitTorrent and the ever-present DVR make almost all of these worries a thing of the past, but seeing as how the ratings model fails to adjust to any of this makes the conflict remain).
Luckily Veronica Mars isn’t on the chopping block just yet, and next year’s merger of UPN and the WB into the ridiculously named “The CW” may end up addressing this issue. The catch is until Veronica Mars is moved to a different time slot it will be forever know as “The show I’m watching instead of Lost,” and can’t be judged on its own merits—merits that are quite good.
This season also got started with a bang and by ‘bang’ I mean ‘school bus full of kids getting driven off a cliff.’ The bus crash has been the driving force (PUN INTENDED) behind the action of this season, much as the Lilly Cane murder propelled the episodes of season-one. The writing is as tight as always. Part of what makes Veronica Mars so appealing is that it couldn’t be more unrealistic—just like Lost—and yet highly believable. Not only is Neptune High unlike your high school, it’s unlike anyone’s high school. Based on the thirty-seven episodes that have aired thus far, Neptune, California, has painted itself as Raymond Chandler’s wet-dream: people constantly missing, murders galore, and endless motives, and at the center of all of it is Veronica Mars herself (Kristin Bell) acting as Philip Marlow.
Like Lost, Veronica Mars’ peak this season came recently. In an episode entitled, “Donut Run” creator and non-Matchbox-20-lead-singer Rob Thomas wrote one of the most ingenious scripts of this or any season. The episode not only broke with the show’s tradition of having Veronica narrate each episode (a turn that only became evident in the episodes closing moments), but was packed with enough twists to make even Sawyer find his ‘Long Con’ to be mere child’s play. “Donut Run” was an episode so remarkable, all other television in 2006 should be rated against it-- yes, even the new Sopranos season. And it wasn’t just in the intricate plotting, Mr. Thomas included a myriad moments of inspiration. In one scene after Veronica is dumped by her boyfriend she goes to her room and puts on “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” by Al Green to sulk. But the song doesn’t come from an Al Green record, instead from The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack, obviously a gentle nod to the moment itself, but also points to the undeniable fact that high school girls LOVE soundtracks. These subtle realities placed within the context of a show that makes no bones about how utterly ridiculous it actually is, creates a kind of peanut-butter-and-chocolate relationship on the screen—tasty.
Aesthetically, both Lost and Veronica Mars are joys to looks at. Of course, being shot in Hawaii doesn’t hurt for Lost. There are no shortages of luscious greens to fill the frame and, well, for a bunch of people who have been stranded on an island for two months, they couldn’t be any easier on the eyes. Veronica Mars is able to push the visual boundary another way altogether though its refreshing use of wide-angle lenses. And not in a “Oh no, I’m so drunk, everything’s all wide-angle and I’m getting dizzy” sort of way, instead Veronica Mars looks much closer to Coen Brothers—like Raising Arizona—with its ability to place interesting characters within just-crazy-enough sets and then let the natural distortion of a short lens do the rest of the work. Barry Sonenfeld, the Coen’s one-time D.P. said it best in an interview on the Miller’s Crossing DVD, “Long lenses are serious, and short lenses are funny.” Wonderfully put.
Perhaps that’s really what this time-slot battle comes down to: the difference between a “long-lens-show” and a “short-lens-show.” Lost is serious television, no matter how maddening it may become, and audiences respond to that more than to a show that’s funny, or quirky, or god-forbid, funny and quirky. That’s probably the reason why there are rarely any comedies in the Neilson top-ten. Americans, the busy bunch that they are, figure if they’re going to give an hour of their life over to something every Wednesday at nine, it might as well be something grand, which is exactly why Veronica Mars can never live up to its ABC-fueled cousin despite it being, at least this season, much better.
Lost (season 2) * * * of 4
Veronica Mars (season 2) * * * 1/2 of 4
0 Comments
Pansy
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday Morning Post
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Crimson Album
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Mother Paris = joke or no?
posted by Anonymous : 7:12 PM
Today IMDb reports:
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Wednesday night's all right for fighting.
posted by RICK : 10:30 PM
With February sweeps just about over (most of the networks held off their A-games this year so as to not confuse people really-really wanting to watch 14 consecutive hours of ice-skating) we are finally heading into the back stretch of the ’05-’06 television season. This hasn’t been a particularly good year for new programming (did anyone catch Emily’s Reasons Why Not?). Last year’s new shows, however, seem to be thriving (or the closest equivalent). Two of the best were Lost and Veronica Mars. Sharing the same time-slot, and quite possibly much of the same audience, the two series illustrate diametrically opposing forces of the same beast: the expertly crafted uber-mystery.
Lost went into season two as the obvious champ both in terms of audience size and cultural importance, spawning some of the most interesting water-cooler talk in what seemed to be ages. More important, it helped contribute to the current renaissance in narrative television (Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy also played a part—thanks ABC—but Lost was the weirdest, and for better or for worse, that made it the best—at least on broadcast). Lost proved that audiences not only want stories that build over time, but showed that they’ll stick around to see how things turn out. If this means that one fewer police procedural will make it to air in the future, then by-God they’ve done their job.
This season’s premiere episode started out with a literal bang in what should only be described as one of the single greatest reveals in the history of time-based-entertainment. Hyperbole aside, it was particularly kick-ass (for those of you who enjoy having your memory jogged, we started this season inside the mysterious hatch—unbeknownst to us at the time—following around some dude as he worked out and listened to an exceptionally catchy song by The Momma’s and The Papa’s only for the aforementioned ‘bang’ to cause this mystery man to grab a rifle and run though the complex’s hallways eventually resulting in our climb up the very tunnel we descended during the season finale three months earlier). Unfortunately, from that point forward the show took an ill-advised seven-episode u-turn in an attempt to answer questions we were never all that concerned about in the first place. Along the way we were introduced to the obligatory second-season “new characters,” like Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), a woman so unlikable she couldn’t find a way to eke out a drop of sympathy from us even after we discover she was a former cop who was shot while pregnant (hopefully recent D.U.I. charges in Hawaii may cause Ms. Rodriguez to be written out of the show sooner than later. I’m hoping she’s written out by that giant polar bear).
The brightest spot of this season came from an episode that aired on February 8th, entitled “The Long Con,” in which Sawyer (Josh Holloway) steals a massive collection of guns on the island over the course of a—wait for it—long con. The episode, arguably the season’s best, worked because it wasn’t trying to shock you with a seemingly endless barrage of island-mythology, but instead by doing what the series did best in season one: using the framework of the island to tell complex character stories. That, and employing some old-school slight-of-hand where upon the big revelation you just can’t believe you didn’t figure it out sooner. “The Long Con” proved that Lost is still as sharp a piece of televised drama as one could ask for, and its stellar ratings suggest it isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
This, of course, leads right to Veronica Mars—the most recent entry into the peculiar genre of television programming also home to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Firefly, and Alias among others. Let’s call the genre “Whebrams,” as all of those shows either could have or did come from J.J. Abrams or Joss Whedon. They’re high-concept series, frequently with snarky leads, strong female characters and a good-dose of old-fashioned melodrama added in for taste. And aside from Alias (and Lost) they all air (or aired) on the one of the bottom three networks (Fox, UPN, WB), which in most cases has resulted in the creation of a popular (if select) niche. The drawback being that said niche overlaps almost perfectly from series to series but especially between Veronica Mars and Lost, likely resulting in certain shows drawing fewer viewers than they perhaps otherwise would. Not all of Lost’s audience will want to tune in for Veronica Mars, but I can only imagine that most of Veronica Mars’ audience will want to tune in for Lost, which is maddening for a fan of both shows (of course BitTorrent and the ever-present DVR make almost all of these worries a thing of the past, but seeing as how the ratings model fails to adjust to any of this makes the conflict remain).
Luckily Veronica Mars isn’t on the chopping block just yet, and next year’s merger of UPN and the WB into the ridiculously named “The CW” may end up addressing this issue. The catch is until Veronica Mars is moved to a different time slot it will be forever know as “The show I’m watching instead of Lost,” and can’t be judged on its own merits—merits that are quite good.
This season also got started with a bang and by ‘bang’ I mean ‘school bus full of kids getting driven off a cliff.’ The bus crash has been the driving force (PUN INTENDED) behind the action of this season, much as the Lilly Cane murder propelled the episodes of season-one. The writing is as tight as always. Part of what makes Veronica Mars so appealing is that it couldn’t be more unrealistic—just like Lost—and yet highly believable. Not only is Neptune High unlike your high school, it’s unlike anyone’s high school. Based on the thirty-seven episodes that have aired thus far, Neptune, California, has painted itself as Raymond Chandler’s wet-dream: people constantly missing, murders galore, and endless motives, and at the center of all of it is Veronica Mars herself (Kristin Bell) acting as Philip Marlow.
Like Lost, Veronica Mars’ peak this season came recently. In an episode entitled, “Donut Run” creator and non-Matchbox-20-lead-singer Rob Thomas wrote one of the most ingenious scripts of this or any season. The episode not only broke with the show’s tradition of having Veronica narrate each episode (a turn that only became evident in the episodes closing moments), but was packed with enough twists to make even Sawyer find his ‘Long Con’ to be mere child’s play. “Donut Run” was an episode so remarkable, all other television in 2006 should be rated against it-- yes, even the new Sopranos season. And it wasn’t just in the intricate plotting, Mr. Thomas included a myriad moments of inspiration. In one scene after Veronica is dumped by her boyfriend she goes to her room and puts on “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” by Al Green to sulk. But the song doesn’t come from an Al Green record, instead from The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack, obviously a gentle nod to the moment itself, but also points to the undeniable fact that high school girls LOVE soundtracks. These subtle realities placed within the context of a show that makes no bones about how utterly ridiculous it actually is, creates a kind of peanut-butter-and-chocolate relationship on the screen—tasty.
Aesthetically, both Lost and Veronica Mars are joys to looks at. Of course, being shot in Hawaii doesn’t hurt for Lost. There are no shortages of luscious greens to fill the frame and, well, for a bunch of people who have been stranded on an island for two months, they couldn’t be any easier on the eyes. Veronica Mars is able to push the visual boundary another way altogether though its refreshing use of wide-angle lenses. And not in a “Oh no, I’m so drunk, everything’s all wide-angle and I’m getting dizzy” sort of way, instead Veronica Mars looks much closer to Coen Brothers—like Raising Arizona—with its ability to place interesting characters within just-crazy-enough sets and then let the natural distortion of a short lens do the rest of the work. Barry Sonenfeld, the Coen’s one-time D.P. said it best in an interview on the Miller’s Crossing DVD, “Long lenses are serious, and short lenses are funny.” Wonderfully put.
Perhaps that’s really what this time-slot battle comes down to: the difference between a “long-lens-show” and a “short-lens-show.” Lost is serious television, no matter how maddening it may become, and audiences respond to that more than to a show that’s funny, or quirky, or god-forbid, funny and quirky. That’s probably the reason why there are rarely any comedies in the Neilson top-ten. Americans, the busy bunch that they are, figure if they’re going to give an hour of their life over to something every Wednesday at nine, it might as well be something grand, which is exactly why Veronica Mars can never live up to its ABC-fueled cousin despite it being, at least this season, much better.
Lost (season 2) * * * of 4
Veronica Mars (season 2) * * * 1/2 of 4
0 Comments
Pansy
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday Morning Post
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Crimson Album
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Mother Paris = joke or no?
posted by Anonymous : 7:12 PM
Today IMDb reports:
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
With February sweeps just about over (most of the networks held off their A-games this year so as to not confuse people really-really wanting to watch 14 consecutive hours of ice-skating) we are finally heading into the back stretch of the ’05-’06 television season. This hasn’t been a particularly good year for new programming (did anyone catch Emily’s Reasons Why Not?). Last year’s new shows, however, seem to be thriving (or the closest equivalent). Two of the best were Lost and Veronica Mars. Sharing the same time-slot, and quite possibly much of the same audience, the two series illustrate diametrically opposing forces of the same beast: the expertly crafted uber-mystery.Lost went into season two as the obvious champ both in terms of audience size and cultural importance, spawning some of the most interesting water-cooler talk in what seemed to be ages. More important, it helped contribute to the current renaissance in narrative television (Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy also played a part—thanks ABC—but Lost was the weirdest, and for better or for worse, that made it the best—at least on broadcast). Lost proved that audiences not only want stories that build over time, but showed that they’ll stick around to see how things turn out. If this means that one fewer police procedural will make it to air in the future, then by-God they’ve done their job.
This season’s premiere episode started out with a literal bang in what should only be described as one of the single greatest reveals in the history of time-based-entertainment. Hyperbole aside, it was particularly kick-ass (for those of you who enjoy having your memory jogged, we started this season inside the mysterious hatch—unbeknownst to us at the time—following around some dude as he worked out and listened to an exceptionally catchy song by The Momma’s and The Papa’s only for the aforementioned ‘bang’ to cause this mystery man to grab a rifle and run though the complex’s hallways eventually resulting in our climb up the very tunnel we descended during the season finale three months earlier). Unfortunately, from that point forward the show took an ill-advised seven-episode u-turn in an attempt to answer questions we were never all that concerned about in the first place. Along the way we were introduced to the obligatory second-season “new characters,” like Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez), a woman so unlikable she couldn’t find a way to eke out a drop of sympathy from us even after we discover she was a former cop who was shot while pregnant (hopefully recent D.U.I. charges in Hawaii may cause Ms. Rodriguez to be written out of the show sooner than later. I’m hoping she’s written out by that giant polar bear).
The brightest spot of this season came from an episode that aired on February 8th, entitled “The Long Con,” in which Sawyer (Josh Holloway) steals a massive collection of guns on the island over the course of a—wait for it—long con. The episode, arguably the season’s best, worked because it wasn’t trying to shock you with a seemingly endless barrage of island-mythology, but instead by doing what the series did best in season one: using the framework of the island to tell complex character stories. That, and employing some old-school slight-of-hand where upon the big revelation you just can’t believe you didn’t figure it out sooner. “The Long Con” proved that Lost is still as sharp a piece of televised drama as one could ask for, and its stellar ratings suggest it isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
This, of course, leads right to Veronica Mars—the most recent entry into the peculiar genre of television programming also home to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Firefly, and Alias among others. Let’s call the genre “Whebrams,” as all of those shows either could have or did come from J.J. Abrams or Joss Whedon. They’re high-concept series, frequently with snarky leads, strong female characters and a good-dose of old-fashioned melodrama added in for taste. And aside from Alias (and Lost) they all air (or aired) on the one of the bottom three networks (Fox, UPN, WB), which in most cases has resulted in the creation of a popular (if select) niche. The drawback being that said niche overlaps almost perfectly from series to series but especially between Veronica Mars and Lost, likely resulting in certain shows drawing fewer viewers than they perhaps otherwise would. Not all of Lost’s audience will want to tune in for Veronica Mars, but I can only imagine that most of Veronica Mars’ audience will want to tune in for Lost, which is maddening for a fan of both shows (of course BitTorrent and the ever-present DVR make almost all of these worries a thing of the past, but seeing as how the ratings model fails to adjust to any of this makes the conflict remain).
Luckily Veronica Mars isn’t on the chopping block just yet, and next year’s merger of UPN and the WB into the ridiculously named “The CW” may end up addressing this issue. The catch is until Veronica Mars is moved to a different time slot it will be forever know as “The show I’m watching instead of Lost,” and can’t be judged on its own merits—merits that are quite good.
This season also got started with a bang and by ‘bang’ I mean ‘school bus full of kids getting driven off a cliff.’ The bus crash has been the driving force (PUN INTENDED) behind the action of this season, much as the Lilly Cane murder propelled the episodes of season-one. The writing is as tight as always. Part of what makes Veronica Mars so appealing is that it couldn’t be more unrealistic—just like Lost—and yet highly believable. Not only is Neptune High unlike your high school, it’s unlike anyone’s high school. Based on the thirty-seven episodes that have aired thus far, Neptune, California, has painted itself as Raymond Chandler’s wet-dream: people constantly missing, murders galore, and endless motives, and at the center of all of it is Veronica Mars herself (Kristin Bell) acting as Philip Marlow.
Like Lost, Veronica Mars’ peak this season came recently. In an episode entitled, “Donut Run” creator and non-Matchbox-20-lead-singer Rob Thomas wrote one of the most ingenious scripts of this or any season. The episode not only broke with the show’s tradition of having Veronica narrate each episode (a turn that only became evident in the episodes closing moments), but was packed with enough twists to make even Sawyer find his ‘Long Con’ to be mere child’s play. “Donut Run” was an episode so remarkable, all other television in 2006 should be rated against it-- yes, even the new Sopranos season. And it wasn’t just in the intricate plotting, Mr. Thomas included a myriad moments of inspiration. In one scene after Veronica is dumped by her boyfriend she goes to her room and puts on “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” by Al Green to sulk. But the song doesn’t come from an Al Green record, instead from The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack, obviously a gentle nod to the moment itself, but also points to the undeniable fact that high school girls LOVE soundtracks. These subtle realities placed within the context of a show that makes no bones about how utterly ridiculous it actually is, creates a kind of peanut-butter-and-chocolate relationship on the screen—tasty.
Aesthetically, both Lost and Veronica Mars are joys to looks at. Of course, being shot in Hawaii doesn’t hurt for Lost. There are no shortages of luscious greens to fill the frame and, well, for a bunch of people who have been stranded on an island for two months, they couldn’t be any easier on the eyes. Veronica Mars is able to push the visual boundary another way altogether though its refreshing use of wide-angle lenses. And not in a “Oh no, I’m so drunk, everything’s all wide-angle and I’m getting dizzy” sort of way, instead Veronica Mars looks much closer to Coen Brothers—like Raising Arizona—with its ability to place interesting characters within just-crazy-enough sets and then let the natural distortion of a short lens do the rest of the work. Barry Sonenfeld, the Coen’s one-time D.P. said it best in an interview on the Miller’s Crossing DVD, “Long lenses are serious, and short lenses are funny.” Wonderfully put.
Perhaps that’s really what this time-slot battle comes down to: the difference between a “long-lens-show” and a “short-lens-show.” Lost is serious television, no matter how maddening it may become, and audiences respond to that more than to a show that’s funny, or quirky, or god-forbid, funny and quirky. That’s probably the reason why there are rarely any comedies in the Neilson top-ten. Americans, the busy bunch that they are, figure if they’re going to give an hour of their life over to something every Wednesday at nine, it might as well be something grand, which is exactly why Veronica Mars can never live up to its ABC-fueled cousin despite it being, at least this season, much better.
Lost (season 2) * * * of 4
Veronica Mars (season 2) * * * 1/2 of 4
0 Comments
Pansy
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday Morning Post
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Crimson Album
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Mother Paris = joke or no?
posted by Anonymous : 7:12 PM
Today IMDb reports:
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Sunday Morning Post
Friday, February 17, 2006
The Crimson Album
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Mother Paris = joke or no?
posted by Anonymous : 7:12 PM
Today IMDb reports:
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
The Crimson Album
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Mother Paris = joke or no?
posted by Anonymous : 7:12 PM
Today IMDb reports:
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Mother Paris = joke or no?
posted by Anonymous : 7:12 PM
Today IMDb reports:
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been asked to play celebrated humanitarian Mother Teresa in a movie biopic. Indian director T. Rajeevnath has contacted the hotel heiress about taking the lead role in his new film, which will chronicle the late nun's life. He tells MTV.co.uk, "My agents in California have contacted Paris Hilton. Although there are several actresses willing to play the role of Mother Teresa, the most widely respected and loved person, the history of the actress who is finally chosen for the role would have to be analyzed thoroughly before she is chosen."
Um...
0 Comments
Ask Questions Later
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Never take your eyes off a Nor'Easter.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Happy Birthday Mr. MS
Monday, February 06, 2006
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
In Case You Missed It...
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Tristram Shandy
posted by RICK : 2:11 AM
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.
As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick |
Dynamarx |
rus-trick |
ryan |
The Potato |
JDM |
DrNewsie |
Mr. MS |
AK |
Brooke |
Stein |
Moses |
G |
CarrieOkie |
Jen |
Duhn |
M. Moore | Laura |
Mr.T |
kat |
abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |
Editor's Note: I posted this early Saturday morning. It then disappeared. But yet, somehow, is available via kinja. I don't really understand. In any case, I'm reposting... so appologies if you've seen this one.As previously mentioned, my idea of doing background research before seeing the film "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" was to watch the first season of "I'm Alan Partridge," Steve Coogan's popular BBC series from the late 90s, and not, say, actually read the book, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman." Perhaps this is the perfect illustration of my media-priorities: be sure you get the joke even if its at the cost of context. This isn't anything new. An American who hasn't "read the book" is kind of like a German who hasn't "persecuted the jews." If I really wanted to shock the world I'd say that not only did I read the aforementioned novel, but wrote an academic paper. Yeah, that would have shown you all!
But enough about my lack of literary context, let's talk about Steve Coogan, yeah? Yeah. First, my hunch about "I'm Alan Partridge" proved to be correct as "Tristram Shandy" did have a few Partridge referrences (not limited to Coogan's co-star doing an impression of him as Partridge). Laugh track aside, the series is pretty brilliant. It's safe to say that there wouldn't be "The Office" without it. David Brent and Alan Partridge are basically different takes on the same personality. Both crave fame but one already had it (and lost it). The biggest difference is that Brent wanted everyone to be his friend (of at least let them think that he wanted everyone to be his friend-- every cloud, yeah?) whereas Partridge is really only looking out for #1 (he tells his staff that they got picked up for a second series only to fire all of them 3 minutes later).
What is perhaps more interesting is that Coogan's approach to the character is much more of a cartoon, whereas Gervais' Brent is firmly rooted in reality. This made "The Office" the better series, but over the long haul it will likely prove Coogan to be the better actor. It comes down to three roles, really: 1) Alan Partridge, 2) Tony Wilson in "24 Hour Party People" and 3) Steve Coogan in "Coffee and Cigarettes" and "Tristram Shandy." The roles aren't entirely dissimilar, but the variance in Coogan's performance is uncanny-- he's played himself twice, each with its own nuances.
I can barely play myself in real life.
And yes, he did make the Jackie Chan adventure "Around the World in 80 Days," but DeNiro did "Showtime" (and in that he never had to act in a hot-air balloon).
Draw your own conclusions.
0 Comments
Re: Funny Ha Ha
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
State of the Union-Secrets Revealed!
Welcome to "What Is Recoil?." If you would like to post something on this blog, but don't have a WIR-Blogger login, then send me an e-mail, and I'll make it happen. SHAZAM!
-Rick
(co-creator)
Rick | Dynamarx | rus-trick | ryan | The Potato | JDM | DrNewsie | Mr. MS | AK | Brooke | Stein | Moses | G | CarrieOkie | Jen | Duhn | M. Moore | Laura | Mr.T | kat | abby | Greg
09/2005 | 10/2005 | 11/2005 | 12/2005 | 01/2006 | 02/2006 | 03/2006 | 04/2006 | 05/2006 | 06/2006 | 07/2006 | 08/2006 | 09/2006 | 10/2006 | 11/2006 | 12/2006 | 01/2007 | 02/2007 | 03/2007 |