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The Company
Directed by Robert Altman
Starring Neve Campbell, James Franco and Malcolm MacDowell
Novels are expected by design to adhere to a plot: conflict, dénouement, resolution. Short stories are often excused
of this; they are allowed to supply a tone and feeling rather than precise plot. Films more often than not follow the
rules of a novel-plot is essential. But Robert Altman's new film, The Company, is like a short story, or a
lyrical series of vignettes all working toward a single end. It's not entirely clear what this film is about, but it
sucks viewers in, nonetheless, and keeps them entranced with very little dialogue or clear structure.
The film's star, Neve Campbell of the Scream movies and Fox's Party of Five, also co-conceived of the
film as well as produced it along with Altman himself and power-producer Christine Vachon. The film also stars Malcolm
MacDowell as Mr. A., the grand-pére of Chicago's Joffrey Ballet, and James Franco, the love interest.
Campbell is Ry, a member of the Joffrey company. She gets a big break when a shoulder injury plagues the lead dancer
in "My Funny Valentine," the centerpiece of a show in Chicago's Grant Park. Though the number is nearly washed out and
blown away by a storm, Ry manages to make her mark. This all occurs in the first quarter of the film, with barely any
dialogue and a ton of ballet. The film continues almost as a series of vignettes. Though Ry is at the center,
a number of dancers are profiled.
While the film has a number of characters, the audience is never given the chance to know any of them much at all.
The film focuses on the company, and it is characters' connection to the whole that makes them stand out. The only reason
we are exposed to Ry the most is that her star is suddenly on the rise. Had she failed in Grant Park, the focus would
have shifted to whomever came along next. Altman approaches The Company as a near-documentary. The story
goes where the action is, not where it is written and forced.
Still, at the film's heart-if it has one-is a very warm burgeoning relationship between Ry and Franco's Josh. Both
actors give their brief moments together weight, and these scenes are warm and touching, especially in one where Josh watches
Ry play pool before the two really meet. Their relationship is lifted by the repeat of "My Funny Valentine" performed
by a number of different artists. This song is the closest thing the film has to a through-line, and it belongs to Ry.
But the film is about the ballet, and from it we learn the tenuousness of fame within its mirrored walls. Mr. A.,
who certainly is the most talkative character, seems to be more interested in fabric and keeping chairs cleared from the dance
space than he is in real performance. He is a man removed from the dance-the reason, presumably, he is there in the
first place. His staff is swayed to and fro by his whims, as are his dancers, who he calls "babies." Through practice
and performance, we glimpse a variety of personalities-those who have danced with the Joffrey forever, and those who have
just arrived.
Altman adds to the sense of documentary by using actual Joffrey dancers, and Campbell, a ballerina herself, does her own
dancing. Nothing in the film feels false, though the performances themselves are constructed down to each movement.
Perhaps that was Altman's goal, to offer an unpracticed look at the most practiced of arts.
24 (Season 3, 1:00pm-11:00pm)
Starring Keifer Sutherland, Dennis Haysbert, Elisha Cuthbert, Carlos Bernard, and Reiko Aylesworth
Fox, Tuesdays at 9
It's now the midway point of the season, a good time to take stock in the shows that are hitting their stride, and those that
have lost their momentum. 24, starring Keifer Sutherland as Jack, an agent of the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles,
is a show that offered up action-packed, intense episodes in its first two seasons. Aside from complaints that Kim Bauer,
Jack's daughter (Elisha Cuthbert), was a useless little twit, there was little to fault the show for in its early run. It
was a very smart, well thought out show. However, in the first half of its third season, it's proven to be simply a shell
of its former self.
This year's arc, focusing on Jack's efforts to keep a dangerous and deadly disease out of enemy hands, namely those of the
Mexican crime syndicate, the Salazar family, and Jack's long-time foe, Nina Meyers (Sarah Clarke), is perhaps the show's most
interesting concept yet. It includes sending Jack undercover with the Salazars and keeping President David Palmer (Dennis
Haysbert) in the dark on some of his more insidious plans. However, it's the execution of this twisted plot that is failing
the show this year. Part of the program's charm has always been the ability to trick its audience and abuse them emotionally--this
was best proven in the first season when, after an entire year of believing Nina to be Jack's greatest friend and ally, we
learned that she was indeed his most terrible threat, solidified when she murdered Jack's wife, Teri, a regular character
who dies at the end of that season. The audience invests in the characters and gets shattered. This is the best kind of
TV. But now in season three, there are only four characters left to care about, and their positioning so far this year has
simply ruined the show's usually high level of tension. Let's take a look:
1. Jack Bauer: Jack is, as always, isolated from his friends and family and working alone. But there are no relationships
to develop here (as there was last year with Kate) and no daughters or wives to be saved. What's more, his decisions seem
sort of lame. His motives are true enough, but his execution of them consistently lacks forethought, and I refuse to blame
his heroin addiction, because it disappears for episodes (or hours) at a time.
2. David Palmer: We'll see how it goes now that ex-wife Sherry is back in the mix, but so far David's problems with his brother,
Buffy's D.B Woodside who joined the cast this year, and bid for re-election are not only completely side-stepping
the main plot, they are boring.
3. Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard): Tony's the best character on the show, and his getting shot early in the season was good
stuff, but now what? He's stuck back at CTU and bleeding? So what?
4. Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth): Now that Michelle and Tony are married, I was hoping for some good fun, because these
two are great, but really, not so much. They're up to the same thing as last year.
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| Have we met? |
The fifth character should be Kim, but who cares about Kim? No one. That's a problem. This year there's a new regular,
Jack's partner Chase Edmunds (James Badge Dale), who has been having a trist with Kim. Chase spent a few episodes being tortured
by the Salazars, and sadly, I really didn't care. They can kill Chase. He's annoying.
And in a nutshell, this is the show's big problem. I'm constantly tempted to turn it off. So far, the stakes have been at
Yellow Alert when they usually stick at Red. And it's not the big idea that is troubling, it's the placement of the characters.
Why do we care if Chase is in trouble? We barely know him. In a first season, this works fine. Your audience is looking
for who's important, who's good, bad, whatever. By season three, we need more to grab on to. This is called character development,
and all the A-list shows have it. 24 has underestimated our ties to its characters, and has lowered its stakes in
the process. How could this have been avoided? Some suggestions:
1. Kill off Kim in season one.
2. Never write character of Chase.
3. Send Tony after Jack to be tortured. Now we care, Michelle is beside herself, and there is more urgency for Jack, who
trusts Tony above all others.
4. Incorporate David into the action. Haysbert and Sutherland are great together, but this only happened in season one.
These two should have been in a room together early on this season. I need to be really concerned about President Palmer,
but I'm not because he seems fairly safe sitting behind a desk on the phone.
Some will complain that because of the show's "real time" structure, things necessarily have to move slower to make it work
as one whole day. But they've managed to keep the tension up in the past; if they hadn't, the concept would have been a failure.
And perhaps this is a necessary shortcoming of this sort of show, but I think the writers are smarter than that. One cannot
keep millions of people waiting through 20 hours of boring to have four of shock and awe. Nina and Sherry are always great
diversions, but they aren't permanent cast members. We badly need to care about those who are. If we don't, all the violence
and language advisories in the world won't perk us up. We need more than concept; we need something to hold on to, to tether
us to this heightened world. Otherwise, it's only make-believe.
The Shins
"Chutes Too Narrow"
Sub Pop, 2003
The Shins' debut album, Oh, Inverted World is an album I tracked down for months after hearing Nick Harcourt (the greatest DJ
ever) play the single "New Slang" on KCRW (the greatest public radio station ever). This song haunted me, and though I had
a hell of a time remembering the name of both the song and the band at the time, I'm sure to never forget them now. Oh,
Inverted World is an excellent album.
The Shins' sophomore effort, Chutes Too Narrow has already been hailed as that which solidifies these Albuquerque boys
as the heirs apparent to the indie throne previously held by Pavement. The album, released on Sup Pop like Oh, Inverted,
is a step forward for a band that was already quite impressive. Their second album continues with a sound that is part 60's
psychedelica, part Beach Boys, and part The Kinks. You know, but with a contemporary edge. Head crooner James Mercer belts
out the kinds of melodious sounds that make one sing along without knowing the words. And knowing the words is not easy.
The lyrics are unexpected (not pretentious).
The album is a tight little piece of work-only 10 tracks. And they're all good. No room for filler. "Kissing the Lipless"
starts the album off, declaring right off the bat that The Shins can crank it up (guitar-wise) to a level they had not reached
in their earlier work. The album's first single, "So Says I" is a melodic, catchy tune that does not have to pander to radio
friendliness. Perhaps the album's most solemn song, "Pink Bullets" shoots the listener with lyrics like "Since then it's
been a book you/ Read in reverse so you understand/ Less as the pages turn or a movie so/ Crass and awkwardly cast that even/
I could be the star." It's the kind of song that creates a feeling, like the Language Poets do. The stringing together of
words only makes sense when considered as a feeling. Perhaps the album's best song, "Saint Simon" mixes the best of what
The Shins have to offer-tight lyrics, layered melody, and the familiarity that comes with something that is the same, but
different.
When I lived in Albuquerque, I knew many people who sang the praises of the town's music scene. Perhaps because of graduate
school, I avoided going to shows and instead threw dance parties in my living room. When I first discovered The Shins, already
living in Los Angeles, I wished I had taken advantage of what Albuquerque had to offer. The Shins are fast becoming a must-have
band for those who know their cool indie music. Run out and pick up Chutes Too Narrow before you, your Chuck Taylors,
and your hair paste are left out in the cold.
Side note: If you are, like me, a sucker for all things pop culture, you might be amused to know that "America's Next Top
Model" loser (but by far the most stomachable woman in the running), Elyse, is keyboardist Marty's girlfriend.
Angel
Season 5 Premier
The WB
Starring: David Boreanaz, James Marsters, J. August Richards, Amy Acker, Andy Hallett, and Alexis Denisof
Angel is back, and life is different from before. As the Buffy spin-off heads into season 5, Angel Investigations
is no more. The team has traded up and now runs the Los Angeles branch of the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart. For the show's
regular viewers, that's a big "huh?"
The season premiere, which aired on October 1, follows the gang to their new digs, a lavish corporate center with all the
amenities-including special glass that keeps the sun's rays from making vampires burst into flames. Lucky for the new boss,
because Angel and sunlight do not mix. Lucky, too, for the cast and crew of Angel-fewer night shoots mean more time with
the family. For new dad David Boreanaz (Angel) and Alexis Denisof (Wesley), fiancé of Buffy's resident Wiccan, Willow,
that's a good sign.
In this first episode we get to see some old friends: Fred (Amy Acker) controls the science geeks, Lorne (Andy Hallett) gets
to handle the firm's entertainers (who knew the Olsen twins had a contract with the devil-or at least his lawyers?), Wesley
gets to be...well...librarian-slash-office manager. The biggest change happens for Gunn (J. August Richards), who, over the
course of the episode, gets his unused potential Matrix-booted and ends up the firm's savviest lawyer. We also get a new
character, Eve. She's connected to the boys upstairs (or in another dimension...whatever)-she's the liaison between Wolfram
and Hart L.A. and Wolfram and Hart multi-dimensional. She's smart, savvy, and probably evil. Oh goody.
If this all sounds strange, it is. The producers are going so far to reinvent the show that they didn't even give a "last
season on Angel" recap. This is largely due to the show almost being cancelled last season due to low ratings and
a dark (but good) storyline. But with Joss Whedon, series creator and dork superhero, back at the helm (he wrote and directed
the first episode, following through on his promise to take a more active role in the series), strange isn't necessarily a
bad thing. The writing is snappy, and Whedon cashes in on his greatest talent-getting away with stuff-right off the bat.
He makes a pointed dig at the Bush family; he infers that homophobic people are, of course, evil; he introduces airhead vampire
Harmony back into the mix as Angel's secretary (baffled yet?). Is there anything this man can't do?
Well, there is one thing, and it's the pink elephant in the middle of the evil lawfirm.
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| Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase |
Where's Cordelia? Can he bring her back?
Well, on the show, she's in a coma. The "company line" from Whedon and Co. (Cordelia's portrayer, Charisma Carpenter, included)
is that they had done all they could with the character. Cordelia had been with Buffy from the beginning, just like
Angel, and when the show spun-off, Cordy spun-off with it, giving Angel a right hand gal not unlike Willow to Buffy. But
now, there's nowhere left to go. Character dried up. If they think we're buying that crap, they think too little of us.
There's no way of knowing why Carpenter is gone, and it's very valiant of them to not get into a he-said-she-said thing,
but it's bullshit. Joss Whedon is no more likely to write off Cordy than he would have been to give up on Willow. Something
went down, and we're one Cordy less because of it. It's fine, we'll move on, but Cordelia was the show's central character
next to Angel, and it will take time to adjust to the loss.
The other problem, of course, is the removal of Angel's son, Connor, from the mix. Only Angel remembers that he ever even
existed, which begs some questions of its own. The most obvious is: is he like Bobby Ewing? Remember on Dallas when Bobby
died but then it was all Pam's dream and so they came back the next season effectively erasing the one before? On Angel,
it wasn't a dream, but what are the ramifications? With no Connor, there was no baby thievery on Wesley's part, and therefore
no breakdown in the gang (like when Angel tried to strangle Wesley), and therefore no Wesley doing the nasty with evil lawyer
Lila, and therefore no...do you get the drift? What exactly has happened in Angel's last two seasons? I mean,
will Angel get drunk and be all "Wesley, you stole my son and screwed up my life and then Cordy had sex with him because she
was all evil and then..." and Wesley's like "What? You don't have a son you nutty vampire." I guess we'll just wait and
see. I trust Joss, I really do. I always have. I know he'll work it out, and it will be so much better than anything on
Dallas ever was. I'm just not sure how.
But Joss is not a cruel man, and he wouldn't take something away without giving something in return. At the end of the first
episode, we got what we had all been waiting for. We got Spike, twirling out of an amulet (the one he was wearing when he
sacrificed himself on Buffy's series finale), dust particles reconnecting into a totally hot mega-vamp. Why is he
back? We don't know. But of all the characters on Buffy, he's the best fit for the noir aspect of Angel, and it's
good to see another familiar face. Plus, he allows for the episode's best line, which came from Harmony. Upon realizing
Spike's reincarnation, she sticks her head in the doorway and says, "Blondie Bear?" For fans of Buffy, this is the
perfect way to inaugurate Angel's status as "the big show," by reminding us that, for all its greatness, it will always
be "the little show."
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| "Blondie Bear" |
Reviews, Summer 2003
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