a filmblog

Under discussion:

Six Feet Under [TV Series]  (2001)

Terminal City [TV Series]  (2005)

Terminal City is one of the many victims of bad timing. Either that or it is a hastily concocted doppelgänger produced for the sole purpose of replacing a rival networks hit show that was soon coming to an end. Unfortunately from my own perspective, it appears to be the latter. When HBO unleashed Six Feet Under onto the airwaves in 2001 it was an immediate sensation. The morbidly fascinating ensemble drama about a disconnected family reuniting after the death of the patriarch was exciting and new, heartfelt and absurd; every minute of the hourlong was engrossing to a disturbing degree and shows in the five seasons it stayed on primetime cable television. The blending of drama and comedy with a dash of fantasy and the occasional musical number was a revelation for viewers bored with the parade of uninspired dribble that clogged every channel for hours until infomercials were a welcomed distraction. Needless to say, I was a fan of Six Feet Under and miss it dearly. Thusly it was painful to watch the ten episode season of Terminal City. From the eerily appropriated title sequence to the oft used fade to white for dramatic effect: a disturbing sense of deja vu enveloped me as every passing moment of the show seemed ham-handedly ripped from Six Feet Under and executed in a less than skilled manner to showcase the sappy story line being attempted by the shows writing staff. Accusing the show of plagiarizing is difficult when those points of contention could be viewed by some as merely a reflection of the current trends in film and television, however, when entire scenes of awkward dialogue and character development are almost entirely played out in similar fashion, one has to wonder. I will however credit the creators of the show for the apropos title of the show which was all too evident in the last moments of the shows final episode in which the pain and suffering I felt throughout the ten plus hours of the series runtime came to an end.

Under discussion:

The Informers  (2009)

With three of his literary works already translated onto the big screen, it was only a matter of time before another one of Bret Easton Ellis' novels was adapted into a film. The Informers is a collection of short stories following the lives of various glitterati, dealers of flesh and Colombian snow, and the occasional supernatural bloodsucking fiend. These characters were woven throughout the book to emphasize how their disparate lives and disturbing stories weren't all that different. Somehow this easily adaptable collection of wide-ranging stories with incredible mass appeal has been filmed into a chaotic mess of boring cliches, overstuffed homages to the requisite gaudy hairdos and totally tubular lingo, and oft gratuitous nude scenes that convey nothing within the hour and forty minutes it runs. 

Under discussion:

He's Just Not That Into You  (2009)

An Altmanesque romantic comedy for the dwindling subset of Generation X that still identifies with that moniker, He's Just Not That Into You is a rather uncomplicated examination of modern relationships and the havoc that the act of examining them causes the individuals involved. Set against the lovely urban paradise known as Baltimore, the film floats its attention between nine individuals desperately trying to find love and maintain a lasting relationship amid the whirlwind of advice from friends, family, coworkers and overly sentimental consciences. The startling amount of A-list thespians littering the screen surprisingly blend together rather harmoniously: characters are developed and individual story arcs completed without any single one trying to overshadow the other. Obviously the result of a television obsessed society, the later portion of the film falls prey to annoyingly sporadic jumps between the parallel story-lines, however, the film remains true to its focus on relationships and thusly succeeds with its thoughtfully articulated dialogue and insightful ruminations on love.