Beauty Grows Old

I read in Variety today that the CW show Beauty and the Geek will most likely not be back for another season anytime soon. This is a specific tragedy for me since it has only been recent months since I discovered the franchise. Since January I have watched three of the seasons. I am eagerly tuning in each week for the current season. But at five seasons this show has had a good run. It’s like putting to sleep a favorite pet. Yeah, it’s sad. But it was time. While the geek make overs never got tiresome the premise has been strained. Each competition seems to be a rehash of another season.

So CW now is the time to push the envelope. How about a show where you give make overs to homeless women and see if a millionaire bachelor will be able to find true love?

The WB Rises From the Ashes

I have learned that the WB is trying to make a comeback as a station. This time however it will be an internet based channel (WBTV). I rarely watch TV in real time. All of the shows that I follow (LOST, Jericho, The Office, 30 Rock, Battlestar Galactica) I catch online the next day.  I am fascinated by the development of new media, specifically the pioneering that takes place on the web. I like the idea of having a top quality internet station. The overhead would be low. The station would have few people to compete with. And since it is specialized on the web it can focus a lot of attention on the issues that make online video consumption so tedious, like buffering for example. I think it shows that Warner Brothers is taking chances and I hope that it pays off. So far it sounds like they will just be posting reruns of the shows they haveI wonder if I could get a job there?

Expelled

:Warning May Contain Spoilers:

Last night I saw the new Ben Stein movie Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed. It is in a genre I like to call Docu-ganda or a documentary with an agenda. If you have ever seen any Michael Moore films you know what I am talking about. I like this genre because even when I disagree with the premise of the individual movie it usually draws out interesting conversations about controversial topics.

At it’s core Expelled is about the theory of intelligent design (ID). The movie follows Ben Stein around the world as he interviews scientists that have lost there job for giving credit to the theory. Ultimately the movie makes the case that by disallowing the theory of intelligent design from intellectual circles we obstruct the scientific right of free inquiry. It ends in an uncouth comparison between the modern American scientific community and Nazi Germany. I liked the topic and I would agree with the general premise. However, there were a lot of problems with this film.

I have heard reviews that say this movie was an argument for Intelligent Design. They are greatly mistaken. Little time was spent on the actual theoretical concept it was all about the people who have gotten kicked out of the science community. It would have been a stronger film if they spent more time to define Intelligent Design. Ten minutes of diagrams and commentary about Intelligent Design in the beginning of the film would have helped. It also did not spend much time reviewing Darwinian evolution. The interviewed scientists talked about the elegance of evolution or the gaping holes but no one ever explained what they were. This made it hard to follow the debate that was at the heart of the film.

Also, It wasn’t funny. A keystone to a good docu-ganda is humor because it differentiates the film from a dull college lecture. Ben Stein usually portrays an intellectual comedian. He is the one that gives the film credibility. Going into the film I was hoping for a lot of his dry wit. There were numerous attempts at humor but they all fell flat. Primarily the film would punctuate it’s arguments with clips from 1950’s newsreels and movies. It was an attempt at a funny retro feel for the movie. What it did instead was vilify the Darwinians in an unfair manner. They were compared to things like Frankenstein and Communism. These attempts on humor back fired. They made the audience feel that this movie was simply mean spirited.

The movie lacked direction. I do not mind a few rabbit trails along the way if the issue is interesting enough. Exposed never built toward anything. Sicko called for health care reform. Inconvenient Truth was an argument for environmental action. Walking out of the theaters for those movies you could talk about reducing carbon emissions or establishing national health care. You would suppose Expelled would be a call towards more scientific freedom of inquiry but what does that mean? It never drew a picture of what the world would look like if the premise of the movie was universally accepted. It never gave the viewer a direction to go after the show was over. Application points are key and if you are going to make a movie that is challenging authority you should have a better concluding thought than “I don’t know what’s next.” Which is essentially what this movie said.

This movie makes me want to watch a better movie about the subject; one that is not sloppy with its themes or reckless in it comparisons.

Forgetting Sarah Marshal

I’ve been busy at the theaters lately. Last Saturday I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshal. I liked it. But there is a certain type of person that is going to find this movie funny.

Forgetting Sarah Marshal focuses on the rebound of a young Hollywood composer after his famous actress girlfriend breaks up with him. Wanting to get out of town to clear his head he takes a trip to Hawaii only to find that his ex-girlfriend and her new rockstar boy toy are spending the week there as well. Awkward. I don’t want to give away anything more about the plot. But it is safe to say that hilarity ensues.

It is not the perfect movie the premise is far fetched and the plot lot meanders along. But it is a fun ride filled with interesting characters.

In a movie where the main character is dealing with major heartbreak it is easy to make the ex look like a heartless bitch. But Peter, Jason Segel, is equally as flawed as Sarah Marshal, played by Kristen Bell. By the time you throw in Albus the rock star and Rachel the resort concierge and local hottie you have a core cast of likable characters played by capable actors.

Did I mention is was raunchy? It might be best not to go to this film with your parents. Brief frontal male nudity and thinly veiled sexual references run through out. But that is to be expected going into an Apatow film.

I have been a fan of writer/producer Judd Apatow ever since the short run television show Freaks and Geeks. He has gathered a group of young actors and writers whom have pounded out movie after movie recently. (SuperBad, Knocked Up, Anchorman, and Talidega Nights to name a few) His works are keyed into the psyche of college and post college guys who are trying to figure out what life is all about. Forgetting Sarah Marshal was produced by him but written by the lead actor Jason Segel.

The greatest compliment I could give this film is the fact that I honestly have not laughed so much at a film in years. Great humor permeates every scene.