The GOP Do Over 2: Electric Boogaloo

 

18 years ago, following the dot-com implosion and rolling blackouts across the state cause my politics and not by infrastructure issues crippled California a Republican spearheaded recall election removed the Democratic governor, Gray Davis, from office. At the time and to this day I refer to this as the GOP do-over. In 2002 Davis ran and won re-election against Republican Bill Simon. It should be noted that the California GOP has last held the Governorship with Pete Wilson in the 1990 and after the anti-immigrant and arguably racist drive to pass Proposition 187 denying services to undocumented persons the Republicans have failed to win statewide offices. Simon was a particularly bad campaigner. The economic crisis of the dotcom bust, the horrid electrical supply failures, and a deeply unpopular increase in automobile registration fee gave the GOP the tools and leverage to initiate and succeed at a recall campaign. If they were unable to win a popular vote in a statewide campaign, they could possibly take the office with a mere plurality of votes in a special election. That’s exactly what happened, 55% of the voters who showed up voted for the recall, turning Davis out of office, but only 48.6% voted for the man who replaced him, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The GOP, having now even further right than before and without Arnold’s moderate stances and celebrity status they have been driven again from statewide offices, are using the COVID-19 pandemic as the crisis in their attempts to recall Governor Gavin Newsom. I have no deep well of affection for either Davis or Newsom and Newsom’s handed his political enemies numerous PR knives with which to stab him but he, nor Davis before him, has committed and abuse of office or malfeasance that warrants a recall from office. This is once again the Republicans, too far too the right to gain a majority of votes from the population, trying to secure an office that are unable to win in any general election. Reflecting the national GOP, California Republicans instead of moderating their policies and positions seek to ‘rule lawyer’ their way into power and damn the will of the people.

I urge everyone in this state to do as I am doing and voting ‘No’ on this recall.

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Movie Review: Free Guy

 

Free Guy is the story of how a background non-player character, Guy, played with able comic chops by Ryan Reynolds, in an open-world video game, with decidedly strong Grand Theft Auto vibes, becomes self-aware while learning that his world is nothing but a sandbox for sociopathic players unleashing carnage and cruelty.

Free Guy is also the story of two brilliant computer/software geniuses, Mille, played by Killing Eve’s award-winning actor Jodie Comer, and Keys, played by Stranger Things’ Joe Keery, as they struggle to prove that the original code for the massively successful and profitable game that acts as Guy’s world, was stolen from them by cartoonishly villain Antwan, played by the brilliant Kiwi Taika Waititi.

The twin plotlines intersect when Millie’s avatar in the game world, Molotov Girl, intersects with Guy hurtling them on a collision course that ultimately will decide everyone’s, virtual and otherwise, fate.

The trailers and promotion sell Free Guy as an action/comedy and they much is very true. The tone and style of the humor is very much in keeping with Ryan’s Deadpool, though here toned down for a PG-13 rating, and with the gags referencing other properties held off until the film’s final act when we are reminded that Disney owns everything.

But, beyond the gags, jabs, and cameos from the real world of on-line game and streaming, Free Guy also has a theme that we are the architects of our lives and routines can be non-living. The movie doesn’t descend into full ‘message’ mode, but neither is it particularly subtle with its theme, striking instead the right balance between the two poles.

There are plenty of great visual gag and surprisingly cameos. (Do not visit IMDB before seeing this, let the surprise arrive and please you.) While Free Guy will never be counted among the great films of cinema’s canon it is fun, entertaining, and full or unironic heart making it well worth seeing. If you are vaccinated and comfortable heading out into public do see this in a theater.

Final observation, I do not know if this was an effect from the pandemic but two of the trailers before the movie, The House of Gucci and The Last Duel were both directed by Ridley Scott and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the same director pop up twice, as director, in the same trailer block.

Also remember that my SF/Noir Vulcan’s Forge is available from Amazon and all booksellers. The novel is dark, cynical, and packed with movie references,

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Quick Hits

 

Just a few unrelated thoughts and observations this morning.

 

COVID-19: Well, this is fucked. We could have been well on the way to controlling the pandemic in the US and then turning our considerable resources to helping the rest of the world, but no, our fascist-adjacent party insists on throwing their tantrum modeled upon their orange god-king and screwing it up for everyone.

 

New Novel: I’ve started act break work on my new novel about alien ‘non-contact.’ I’m hoping within a week to have an outline and to be ready for actual scene writing.

 

Marvel’s What if …: the new series an anthology of animated alternate versions of MCU stories, the premier being what is Agent Carter got the super solider serum instead of Steve. It worked but I wasn’t blown away.

 

 

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What Happened to My Mask Tolerance?

 

Last year when it was recommended that everyone wear face masks when out in public, I adopted the habit straight away. While many people complained about the discomfort of wearing that cloth over your face, I never found it all that troublesome.

Oh, there were issues learning the correct placement to keep it from fogging the lenses of my eyewear but actual, ‘I can’t breathe’ or ‘This is stifling’ reactions I simply did not have. Not in the spring nor in the heat of the summer. And I went out a lot in those masks. I was one of the few people at my day job that remained an in-office worker carrying out essential tasks that could not be completed remotely. (My choice, management made it very clear if I wanted to work from home like the rest of my team I could. No pressure, no inducement. It was entirely up to me.)

This year, this summer, I have found that I have very little tolerance for my masks. Short trips in the summer heat to my car and from the car to the officer are barely tolerable, causing me to rip the thing off and get air blowing across my face as quickly as possible.

I still wear it. The Delta variant is dangerous and highly contagious so even with my vaccinated status I am taking every possible precaution. But still I wonder, where did my tolerance for masks go?

 

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The Cohen Brother Film

 

Sorry for no posting yesterday, eye exams and a general malaise robbed me of motivation. Good news is I have now fully recovered from my cataract surgery, and all is well with my eyes.

The brother Ethan and Joel Cohen have been responsible for some entertaining, irreverent, and darkly cynical films everything from the fable and silly The Hudsucker Proxy to the grim examination of the human condition in No Country for Old Men. What these films had in common was the team of Joel and Ethan a cinematic team that seems to have reached their end.

Ethan has of late been writing short stories, plays, and directing live theater and apparently have fallen in love with the live stage world. Joel is remaining in the cinematic arts and luckily, I have seen no reports that this spilt represents animosity between the brothers but solely a differencing of artistic desires.

The question is just how much like a Cohen Brothers film is there is only one present? Christopher and Jonathan Nolan often but not always work together and when Jonathan is part of the project the storylines turn darker and more cynical. It will be interesting to see what, if any, detectable tone shift arrives by the departure of Ethan. We shall have a chance soon. Later this year will see the release of Joel Cohen first truly solo direction feature film The Tragedy of Macbeth. (One thing I can say is that it seems Joel does not share superstitions about ‘the Scottish Play.’ An A24 release, a studio I have come to admire for its bold commitment to artistic films, and my favorites play by the Bard, there is no doubt that I am there for this feature.

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Movie Review: The Suicide Squad

 

In July 2018, the happy before times when we knew nothing about the coming pandemic, James Gunn having provoked the ire of Trump supporters was fired from his position as the director of the 3rd installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, the first two under his writing and direction had clear more than 1.5 billion at the box office, when Disney panicked over a faux twitter outrage generated by said Trump supporters fixated on Gunn’s years aged and already apologized for shock and bast taste humor on that platform.

Meanwhile Warner Brothers Studios licked their wounds from the critical disappointment that was their feature release Suicide Squada superhero film where the featured characters were in fact villains pressed into government service in a dangerous mission to save the world. Wb desperate for a win compared to the juggernaut that is Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, a license to more money than many countries, they wasted no time and hired Gunn for the sequel to their villains turned heroes series and thus was born The Suicide Squad.

If you are expecting a clone of Guardians in tone, humor, or even needles drops, then you may be disappointed by The Suicide Squad. The humor is darker and more cynical, the action more violentand quite graphic compared to Marvel’s generally bloodless combat and the music ques trend to more modern selections in contrast to Guardians favor for classic rock.

With the exceptions of fan favorite Harley Quinn and Colonel Flag, Gunn, given a free hand by the studio, selected a new roster of villains to constitute his world saving anti-heroes, and that line-up to is too extensive to fully detail here but includes; Ratcatcher 2, who inherited tech to control rats from her father, Polka-Dot Man, who throws polka-dots of disintegrating energy, Bloodsport and Peacemaker a pair of high trained, testosterone-poisoned mercenary assassins and of course King Shark, a humanoid barely speech-capable walking super-strong and always hungry shark.

This assorted murderer’s row along with a number of other are dispatched of a fictional island nation of the coast of South America to destroy a facility and its secret project “Starfish” that has landed in unfriendly hands due to a recent coup. Things go wrong and a great deal of curing and violence erupts and the villains are faced with a threat that far outmatches them and one that no all of them will survive. After all it is titled The Suicide Squad.

I enjoyed but did not love this movie. It is fun, it revels in its R rating, and Gunn let the characters be themselves without bogging the pacing down with excessive set-ups. That said there were elements, usually style induced ones that kept rubbing against my suspension of disbelief. For example, instead of a simple title card or subtitle to inform us we were jumping back three day in the story to show us something vital Gunn would place the letters in the scene, such as in foam forming on a toilet seat, or in billowing flames and that was too self-ware for my own tastes.

That said I am glad I watched this in a theater where giant action set pieces played out far larger than life. So, my recommendation is see it, but be aware it doesn’t work for everyone.

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Parsing Empowerment from Exploitation

 

I just saw a tweet extolling the cinematic excellence of the film Revengeand while I am not going to respond directly to that tweet, I have no interest in dumping on someone for something they enjoyed, the movie was one I found lacking and I wanted to quickly compare to a similar film that handled the subject matter so much better, American Mary.

Both movie, Revenge (2017, France) and American Mary (2012, Canada) are centered on attractive young women who are sexually assaulted by older powerful men and the consequences of those attacks.

Revenge is an exploitative movie, fond of the ‘ass cam’ where the lens of the camera follows the woman close and low reducing her to a body part without the benefit of being from a clear point of view. The film utilizes nudity heavily and while it doesn’t film the assault in a particularly titillating manner nor does to capture the character’s full sense of horror and objectification. Following the assault, the movie descends into a series of set pieces of attacks and escape as she takes her revenge all while maintaining minimal or even absent entirely of clothing.

 

 

 

 

American Mary never falls into the ‘ass cam’ mode of cinematography. Its star is equally as attractive as the star of Revenge, young leading ladies are rarely unattractive, but the filmmakers never reduce her to simply her secondary sexual characteristics. The assault also avoids titillation along with nudity and captures the horror, loss of control, and the character’s objectification bur her assault. Following the attack, the character also seeks and gains a measure of revenge but unlike Revenge this is not presented as a sequence of violent murders but something more methodical and more extreme while maintaining a focus on the character’s mental state and her disintegration emotionally. We see the continuing price she pays from the assault and the ultimate hollowness and emptiness of her revenge. American Mary is a more complex and subtle film that explores the lingering harm of trauma and not simply the gratification of vengeance.

Both films are streaming on Shudder. Watch them and make up your own minds on the difference between exploitation and empowerment.

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Crossing The Bridge

 

Last night my sweetie-wife and I finished the fourth and final season of the Swedish/Danish television series The Bridge.

As a season and as a series it reached a satisfying conclusion wrapping up the various threads of both the current multiple murder investigation that drove the season’s plot and the long running character arcs.

Looking back over all four seasons with the exception of a misstep in virology late in season two the series maintained an exceptional level of skill in story, character, and production. The MVP of the show remained from episode one through the final scene Sofia Helin’s portrayal of Swedish homicide detective Saga Noren. Helin’s skills as an actor are tremendous. She fully inhabits Saga and never misses when she’s required to communicate her character’s inner thoughts and doubts non-verbally. Her costars are all competent and talented actors, but it is always clear that Helin is the shows center and its star.

The concept of the series, cross border investigations driven in part by a transnational bridge proved too tempting not to be duplicated and the series spawned reinterpretations set along six national divides including the US and Mexico.

When my sweetie-wife first wanted to watch this series, it was not available on any of the streaming services, and she purchased the UK Blu-ray release as we own a region free Blu-ray player. Now the original series is available on Amazon prime and if you have even a passing interest in Nordic Noir, I can’t recommend the series enough.

 

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Character Wants, Needs, and Growth

 

In fiction writing it is often the case that a character has a want, something that the character is aware that they desire to obtain or achieve and a need which is a psychological element that the character is usually unaware of that they require to become their better self.

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate my point. In JawsChief Brody wants to make his community safe, in particular to stop the shark attacks. His need is to overcome his terror of the water. He doesn’t go around in the story saying or even acting like this is a goal, but it is the character growth and evolution that makes the story satisfying. In Back to the Future Marty wants to ensure his parents meet so that he and his siblings will exist, but his need is to gain the self-confidence for his own artistic pursuits. (A need that was ignored the sequels.) Achieving his wants allows him to meet his needs.

It is important to have needs and wants cleanly separate goals. In the musical/fantasy Xanadu Sonny’s need and his want are precisely the same thing. He wants to be inspired to create original art and it is his psychological need as well. In addition to the film’s numerous flaws, this means that there can be no arc, no character growth for Sonny. If a character’s need is the same as their want, there is no change to the character when they achieve it. A static unchanging character is ultimately unsatisfying it is why the final shot in The Hunt for Red October is critical, only by seeing Jack asleep on a plane, having fully met his need to overcome his fear of flying can we appreciate his character’s growth and change.

When you create character to drive your stories think about their wants, the plot, and their needs, the story, are distinct things for fuller richer tales.

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Quick Hits

 

Just a few random quick thoughts before I head out to my day-job.

 

Katla ended well. While one of the characters provided a scientific sounding explanation for the strange events and doppelgangers a few selected shots and sequences I think refute his theory. In my opinion the entire Netflix series is well worth watching.

 

The Republican Party continues its drift towards authoritarianism. I say drift because I believe that most elected pols are not choosing their direction but rather utterly terrified of their base and loses their positions are pushed by the currents that are generated by the most devoted bad actors. At this time nearly the entire party is comprised of invertebrates.

 

Next month is the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival which last year was entirely virtual and this year attendees can choose to be in person or online. I have my tickets and plan to be in person at the Frida Theater in Santa Ana California.

 

 

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