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I think Kaling is incredibly talented, and she's well within her rights to take the show wherever she wants. It's her show, and she's a comedy boss. 

All that being said, I DON'T necessarily think it would have been outside the realm of possibilities for Mindy to consider an abortion if she wasn't ready to have kids. Danny being a devout Catholic would have added some really interesting conflict. That's clearly not the route they've chosen to go, and that's fine. But real people in real relationships DO sometimes make those choices.

Like I said, Mindy had no obligation to go there…I just wish somebody on a television comedy would, at some point. I'd like to see that. (And BECAUSE Mindy is a boss, I think she could have done it with great finesse.)

But my bigger gripe is really that it just seemed tired. Again, it hasn't played out yet, and in general I think the writing on this show is amazing, so I really do hope it'll go well. But, as a very big fan of television, I've seen the "baby" twist so many times, and it isn't (usually) a GOOD addition to a show. But Mindy has made her mark inverting romantic comedy cliches, so in some ways this may be her biggest challenge yet. 

Man…it’s been a while. Sorry for the absence everyone. Work got crazy busy, and other things have been happening…but I never forgot about “It’s All In How You Couch It.” I would be watching a TV show or a movie, and I’d think, “I should write a blog post about that.” Then I would remember how long…

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Mindy's New Project.

Man...it's been a while. Sorry for the absence everyone. Work got crazy busy, and other things have been happening...but I never forgot about "It's All In How You Couch It." I would be watching a TV show or a movie, and I'd think, "I should write a blog post about that." Then I would remember how long it had been since I had written, and I'd feel guilty, and instead of writing that blog post I'd just eat some pudding and go to sleep.

So what has prompted me to finally write again? I WAS going to write about Better Call Saul. And I still might. Or the new season of Girls, or the continuing rapid-fire plot developments of Nashville, or the gut-wrenching mid-season finale and premiere episodes of The Walking Dead, or the delightful final season of Parks and Rec, or the white-washed Oscar nominations or any of a huge variety of other things.

But the reason I'm ACTUALLY writing again? The Mindy Project. Specifically, a certain plot thread that has just been revealed. So if you're not caught up, don't keep reading. I mean, I love my tens of readers, and I WANT you to keep reading, but I believe in good looking out...and there are spoilers ahead.

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Mindy is pregnant.

And I hate it. Okay, too harsh? Maybe I don't HATE it. But I sure don't love it. When two people get together on a show, you can just have them BE together. They don't have to have a baby or get married in the next season. They shouldn't have to fast forward to major milestones to keep the show interesting. The writers were doing a fantastic job of spinning out the Mindy/Danny dynamic, proving that it is possible to bring two characters together and continue to have them both be funny, apart AND together. The fellowship and the move to San Francisco was a great way, in my humble opinion, for Mindy to grow as a character, and to add a little friction to their relationship. 

For me, the pregnancy story line is problematic for a few reasons. First of all, Mindy is a sex-positive OB-GYN. Danny is also an OB-GYN. Are we really supposed to believe that both of them were so casual with their birth control? (I realize there's still a small chance of birth control failure, but that doesn't seem very plausible. Friends already went that route, anyway.) It also doesn't jibe with what we know about Mindy as a character. Outside of her role as a doctor, she's fairly selfish and irresponsible. She has spoken about children in the future only as an abstract concept...part of the perfect life she envisions for Danny and herself. And as her reaction to San Francisco indicates, she's excited about new possibilities for her career, looking for chances for professional growth. Having a family doesn't seem to be at the top of her list.

And if I'm being brutally honest, I would have loved to have seen a major network comedy show tackle an abortion storyline. I know that Mindy Kaling has no obligation to write the show for anyone but herself, or to address any serious topics at all. I'm certainly not blaming her that she's crafting the story to go in a different direction. I'm only disappointed because I think if there's anyone out there capable of writing/creating a storyline about abortion that would speak to and reach a lot of people, it's her. Has any comedy show taken it on in a real way? (And by that I mean a character actually HAVING an abortion.) Even Girls, an edgy HBO show, dodged the bullet by giving Jessa a miscarriage. 

I think the pregnancy twist just feels trite to me, and having it play out in a different way would be awesome for a lot of reasons. But I haven't given it a chance yet. So maybe this story will go some place unexpected, or maybe The Mindy Project writers will be able to take this tired trope and just make it funny as all hell. (I will admit, there is probably some humor to be mined from a pregnant Mindy Lahiri.)

I want to be optimistic. I really do. I just feel like this is not where I wanted to see this show go. Already. In its third season. When its romantic leads haven't even been together for a year.

Baby...it better be good.

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I am definitely Into The Woods.

First off, apologies all around. I haven't written in ages. Work was insanely busy leading up to the holidays, and then I was traveling. But I am ready to dive back in for just the right reason...a movie review of Into the Woods--a film I've been talking up here on the Couch for a while.

So. Let's get to it. Obvious caution...if you haven't seen the film or musical, but plan to, there will be spoilers ahead.

I can't say for sure, going into it, whether I was more biased towards loving the film because I love the musical, or more biased towards NOT loving the film...because I love the musical. And I do love the musical. It was the first true Sondheim work I was exposed to (I don't count West Side Story, as iconic as it is, since he mainly just contributed the lyrics there). And while there are others that I love...like Passion and Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods remains at the top of the pile. A childhood friend had the original Broadway production on a VHS tape...I'm talking Bernadette Peters, Joanna Gleason, Chip Zien...I got lost in it and bought the soundtrack on cassette. I remember one family vacation I put that tape in my walkman and listened to it over and over again. It still remains weirdly and indelibly tied to our trip to Pennsylvania Dutch country for that very reason.

I am delighted to say that Rob Marshall did not disappoint. There were a few things, here and there, that I didn't LOVE, but a lot that was really spectacular.

First things first...performances. Almost everyone was really great in their roles. The highlights for me were James Corden as the Baker (his chemistry with Emily Blunt, as well as his comedic and dramatic scenes, were all spot on), Chris Pine as the arrogant prince ("Agony" drew the most laughs of any scene in the movie in the theater I was in) and of course, Meryl. I was very pleasantly surprised by her singing. It was much stronger than I thought it would be, and she played the Witch's biting wit, anger and pathos as beautifully as she plays just about everything. Don't get me wrong, though. The whole cast was solid. Anna Kendrick and Blunt both brought warmth and humor to their parts, and the two kids, Lilla Crawford and Daniel Huttlestone, were very impressive, considering Marshall aged those parts down. On stage, they're traditionally played by more mature performers. Of the supporting cast, Tracey Ullman and Christine Baranski were standouts.

The one glaring exception? Johnny Depp as the Wolf. And I'm not entirely sure it's Depp's fault. There was speculation about his scenes before the film even came out. Fans of the musical were skeptical of a number like "Hello, Little Girl," when sung to a child actress, instead of the teenage girl who normally plays Little Red Riding Hood. The lyrics to the song are rife with sexual innuendo, and the song is basically one gigantic metaphor for seduction and the awakening of a young woman to, ahem, the ways of life. So I have to say, the whole sequence, with Depp's Tex Avery performance, was, well...icky. It just didn't play right to me. I think it was the only serious misstep in the film. I'm not sure what the solution would have been other than to cast an older actress, since there's basically no other way to interpret those lyrics. And I hate to say that about Crawford, anyway. She was a great Hood, otherwise.

The only other slightly disappointing aspect of the film was the loss of a few songs/characters--a step that I realize was probably a necessary evil for transferring a stage musical to screen. The second act got a little bit of a short shrift, though, and I like that act the best, because it's where the fairy tales get completely turned on their heads.

From a production value perspective, however, the film was gorgeous. Lush, beautifully shot and beautifully lit, with amazing costumes and makeup. The staging of "Agony," with the princes cavorting amongst the water, was especially ingenious. It was a tough call on a favorite costume...but it would probably have to be Streep's, after the Witch's transformation. She was all gauzy blue fabric--beautiful but icy.

All in all, I found the music as enchanting and moving as I did when I was a kid, and I think as long as that aspect of the story was adequately translated, Marshall did his job. If you like musicals, you will probably like this one. And even if you don't, it may surprise you. The score is incredible, and the premise, turning the fairy tales we all grew up with, into an interwoven and complex story, is one that sticks with you. I may not live happily ever after, but I definitely left the theater feeling good.

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WTF Walking Dead?!

Okay. If you haven't watched through the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead, DO NOT KEEP READING. I'll be discussing my feelings on the episode at length, and as such, revealing major spoilers. So be forewarned.

I know TWD is a show that needs stakes. Robert Kirkman said as much in the episode of Talking Dead that ran after this mid-season finale. If everyone survives, all the time, that doesn't feel very authentic to the apocalyptic world they're living in. Any major losses are a trifle predictable...usually happening in a finale or premiere episode. But I can't fault them too much for that. Which brings me to this episode.

So...our hospital trade. Rick leads the group to Grady Memorial to get back Carol and Beth. There are some bumps in the road as they try to execute the plan they think will lead to LESS bloodshed. First of all, Lamson the cop tricks Sasha and Rick has to go after him. Not for nothing, but the image of Rick hitting him with the car was pretty funny. It was kind of like, Lamson...where are you going? You got nowhere to run! Rick gets out of the car, shoots Lamson, then says, "shut up." For some reason I really enjoyed the fact that the "shut up" came AFTER he was dead.

So blood's already been spilled. Nevertheless, Dawn agrees to meet for the trade. Dawn, in her short lifespan on the show, was a fascinating character. I honestly don't think she was bad, per se. She was misguided, highly paranoid, and insecure, and those were a very bad combination of traits. But unlike many of the cops in her employ, she hadn't rotted at the core yet. She seemed, oddly, to feel a sort of kinship with Beth in their moments together in this episode. Beth doesn't like her, that's clear...but Dawn seems to want Beth to understand her motives, like she's seeking Beth's approval.

So now we come to that hostage trade scene in the hallway. Ugh. Everything looks like it's going okay. First Carol is sent over, then Beth. Everyone's going to walk away until Dawn has to posture in front of the other cops and says she gets Noah back too. Like he belongs to her. Noah, to his credit, while he looks dismayed, starts to agree. Rick and the others don't want to acquiesce to Dawn, but everyone's still got their weapons and the situation is tense. Beth, however, cannot hide her emotions. She hugs Noah tightly and approaches Dawn. Any goodwill Dawn might have built up with Beth in their earlier scenes is now completely gone. Once again, to save face, Dawn is making a cruel decision, just to hold on to her own power. Beth confronts her, and two things happen very quickly...

Beth stabs Dawn in the neck with a pair of scissors.

Dawn immediately shoots her gun off in reaction to that (whether completely purposefully or not) and the bullet goes straight through Beth's head.

Darryl cries. Rick looks shocked. Darryl shoots Dawn. Everyone draws their guns. And little blonde Beth is laying on the floor, dead.

This was me when all that happened (and it happened within the space of about ten seconds...)

And this was me when Darryl walked out of the hospital, carrying Beth's body, and Maggie sees it and reacts with screaming hysterics.

But that didn't last long, because then sweet little Emily Kinney was on Talking Dead, and SHE started crying and I had to just give up the whole fucking thing and let it go.

So fuck you, TWD. You once again know how to hit us where it hurts. Beth was an iffy character at first...she DID seem weak at the beginning. But she developed a spine of steel and still managed to keep her humanity and her sweetness. She showed it was possible to accept the realities of a horrible situation but not give up hope. She showed it was possible to make sacrifices for other people in a time when almost everyone is looking out only for themselves. And now she's gone. Good-bye, Emily, and RIP, Beth. You'll be missed.

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'Pitch Perfect 2' Trailer

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Happy Trails: Pitch Perfect 2

Yaaaaasssssss.

Okay, just had to get that out of my system. I went to a college where a cappella was a big. fucking. deal. I didn't sing in an a cappella group myself, but we definitely had a cappella groupies on campus. (Is there anything sexier to a 19-year-old girl then a clean cut guy in a blue blazer singing John Mayer's "Your Body Is a Wonderland" sans instrumental accompaniment? No.)

The original Pitch Perfect was a delightful surprise. Really funny, really entertaining, and with a pretty phenomenal vocal soundtrack. I am glad to see that based on this trailer, they haven't changed the formula. Why mess with success? As always, Fat Amy and Gail and John get some of the funniest moments, and Adam Devine's Bumper makes a welcome appearance. It looks like pretty much all the cast is back, along with some intimidating new German performers, as the story focuses on an international a cappella competition.

The trailer even manages to incorporate one of the most viral sensations from the first movie...Beca's (Anna Kendrick) cup song. We know these girls, we've missed these girls, and fuck...we're glad to have them back!

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Happy Trails: Into the Woods (with singing!) Edition

A trailer had already been released for Rob Marshall's upcoming film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's beloved Into the Woods, but it was more of a teaser. This is the first proper, full length trailer...and more importantly, it has the one essential ingredient that was missing in the first look: singing.

Anytime you're taking "movie stars" and casting them in a musical, particularly one with music as demanding as Sondheim's, people are going to be skeptical. I know Anna Kendrick has chops, but a lot of the other stars of this movie--Emily Blunt, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, even Meryl Streep--aren't really known for their singing ability. Yes, Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep have both appeared in movie musicals before, Sweeney Todd and Mamma Mia respectively, but let's be honest. Despite the fact that Depp was singing Sondheim his first time around, his musical skill wasn't what made his performance in Sweeney Todd so compelling. And Mamma Mia was just...not that great.

So you could count me amongst the skeptics. I LOVE this musical. It's my favorite of Sondheim's, and probably one of my favorite Broadway musicals overall. I have the original soundtrack, with Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason, and those are some hard-ass shoes to fill.

But I have to be honest...this trailer lessens my fears a little. For one, the cast still has a few ringers. Both the kids, (Red Riding Hood and Jack), Anna Kendrick, and James Corden (who plays the Baker) all have strong musical theater backgrounds. This trailer, which shows us a lot of moments similar to the teaser, only a bit more fleshed out, most prominently features Meryl Streep's voice. And it's good. It's surprisingly good. In the second half, the witch comes in singing part of "Stay with Me," one of the more poignant songs. Is it Bernadette Peters? No. But it was much better, stronger, and more appealing than I expected. A lot of actors who aren't known as singers don't sing terribly, their voices are just weaker than trained musicians. So it's a relief to hear really solid singing in this preview.

The look is still amazing and suitably cinematic. Johnny Depp's costume is a bit extreme, but I'm willing to overlook that because everything and everyone else looks so beautiful. (I mean, did you SEE Meryl transformed as the witch? Fabulous.) So now I'm actually getting pretty excited. It's tough when something you love in one format, like Les Miserables before this, gets translated to another medium, and you want to like it SO badly, and you're so afraid it won't meet your expectations. So I really hope I'm not setting myself up for disappointment. I'll have to wait until Christmas to find out!

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Into The Woods Trailer - In Cinemas December 25!

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One (not so long) Take on Birdman

I saw Birdman this weekend. Alejandro Inarritu's (Babel, 21 Grams) newest film is a strange amalgamation of inside baseball, trippy character study, and tender drama. The protagonist is Riggan Thomson, a washed up movie star who earned his fame in a 90s superhero franchise playing a character called Birdman. Riggan is played, superbly, by Michael Keaton, an actor I would never describe as washed up, but who also came to fame playing an over-the-top masked superhero. This casting is not coincidental, I have to believe.

I say that because some of the other casting choices are on the nose as well, particularly Edward Norton, playing an actor known for being obsessed with his craft to the point that he has a reputation of being difficult to work with. Norton's character, Mike, is cast in a Broadway play that Riggan has written, is directing, and stars in, in an attempt to give new life to his sagging career. The entire film meanders in and out of the narrow backstage hallways, klieg light crevices and glittering streets of Broadway theaters.

I say meanders because one of the most marvelous stylistic achievements of the film are the takes...in that there aren't very many of them. The shots are long, and combined so brilliantly and deceptively that as an audience we're meant to believe we're watching one continuous take--a mind-bending, time twisting journey through the three days of previews prior to the show's open. It's pretty incredible, both from a technical and story-telling standpoint.

I've already said that Keaton was superb, but that can't really be overstated. Riggan is battling a variety of demons--most prominently the specter of his formal alter ego, Birdman, a raspy voice in his head (eerily reminiscent of the voice Keaton used when he was playing Batman, natch). He is horribly insecure, self-absorbed, and somewhat thoughtless about the other people in his life. But deep down, Keaton gives Riggan many redeemable qualities...a keen sense of self-awareness, a desire, over the course of the film, to try to make good with people that he's hurt, and a true passion for his pet project that has you rooting for him, even as you recognize that his need for validation borders on pathological.

The rest of the cast is similarly excellent. Norton gives Mike Shiner all the pompous selfishness an "actor's actor" needs. Naomi Watts is very sweet and pitiable as the actress wanting desperately to be taken seriously in her first Broadway play. And Emma Stone is especially magnetic as Riggan's daughter, Sam, a recovering addict working as her father's assistant, who haunts the theater offering acerbic and at times caustic commentary on the showbiz types. Zach Galifianakis offers comic relief as Riggan's best friend and producer/lawyer. Although there are veins of dark humor in all the characters' dialogue, which is part of what made the movie so watchable. Despite a rather bleak plot, the movie is funny.

And the magical realism is the other nice touch. We live a lot of the film inside Riggan's head. We hear Birdman's voice, we see Riggan act out his "powers," including telekinesis and flight. These things are threaded so seamlessly into the behind-the-scenes look at the theater, it's like two very different tastes that shouldn't go together, but somehow do.

I won't tell you how the movie ends. It's a beautiful bit of poetry that shouldn't be spoiled. But honestly, I'm not sure I'd know how to describe it anyway. Writing a whole review felt like the only way to do Birdman justice. It was very good, but in a way I'm still not sure I totally understand...

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Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” - Teaser Trailer (OFFICIAL)

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Happy Trails: Avengers: Age of Ultron Edition

The first real trailer for the Avengers sequel (Age of Ultron) was released last week. I like to think that usually I keep up with the newest casting developments in movies like these, but honestly, I didn't know James Spader (or at least James Spader's voice) was in this movie, as the titular villain, Ultron, until I started playing this trailer. It's fan-fucking-tastic. If ever there was a man with a voice fit for a sentient and evil automaton...it's James Spader. Who ever cut this trailer made a smart decision. Almost no other characters have dialogue in it at all. It's mostly Ultron, narrating, against so many scenes of utter chaos and destruction. He begins with this eerily perfect line: "I'm gonna show you something beautiful..."

Let's break it down.

We open with street scenes of people screaming, of smoking ruins, of our heroes looking dejected, defeated...even frightened. Ultron staggers into view, telling them they're all puppets tangled in strings.

Cue the creepy music--a version of the Pinnochio tune, "I've Got No Strings." Then more scenes of our heroes suffering. And alone. Many of the shots show the characters not working as a team, but separated. Captain American kicking down a door in some mountainous villa. Black Widow standing alone in a room in silhouette, looking down. Bruce Banner staggering through a snowy wood, falling to the ground. As foreshadowing goes, this can't be good...

And the two Avengers who DO speak? Here's what they say: "It's the end...the end of the path I started us on." Also, "Nothing lasts forever." Hmmm...more dark omens for our team?

In addition to what looks to be a bang-up fight between the Hulk and some iteration of Iron Man (and given the buddy buddy relationship between Bruce Banner and Tony Stark, I don't even want to think about the situation that brings that to pass) we also get a glimpse of the two prominent new characters, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, played by Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

We end once again with Ultron, red eyes glowing, finishing up the final line of the Pinocchio tune..."There are no strings on me."

(Shiver.)

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Whip It.

I got to see Whiplash this weekend, a film festival favorite that hit theaters nationwide just recently. The movie was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, adapted from his short film, and stars Miles Teller and the ever impressive J.K. Simmons. The plot, boiled down, sounds simple. An up-and-coming student drummer begins to study under a brutally driven music director, who pushes him to his physical, mental and emotional limits in pursuit of the pinnacle of percussion-playing greatness. If you think you’re going to see it, just beware there are a few minor spoilers below.

The art form in this case is jazz, which I know very little about. But music is the lifeblood of the movie. Chazelle uses these rhythms in his shots—when the jazz band is gathering for rehearsal, the camera angles across the empty seats and plunk, plunk, plunk…three instrument cases are put down. Then click, click, click…the cases are opened. Close-up shots of tapping feet and rapidly moving drumsticks are mixed in with wider shots of the band when they’re performing. The musical pieces that are the main focus are Whiplash, the titular composition by jazz composer Hank Levy, and Caravan, a standard most closely associated with Duke Ellington.

There’s a fair amount of musical lingo in the script, but don’t worry…you really don’t need to know what it means to get the basic gist of a teacher who pushes a student past their breaking point. And that gets to the heart of the movie, which is the performances by Simmons and Teller.

Teller’s star has been on the rise for a while. I thought he was great in The Spectacular Now, and I’ve been seeing him in more and more films over the past few months. But honestly, the intensity of his role in Whiplash is pretty incredible. Teller plays Andrew—a 19-year-old drummer in a prestigious conservatory with practically no social life and a lot of ambition. He has a close relationship with his father (Paul Reiser, in a surprisingly sweet, though small supporting role), but his musical aspirations are what drive him.

Enter Fletcher (Simmons), the temperamental and often downright cruel conductor of the conservatory’s premiere jazz band. To play for Fletcher and make it into his ensemble is clearly the height of achievement for the student jazz musicians. But Fletcher, though an exacting and talented conductor, is a tyrant. He bullies his students mercilessly, swearing at them, taunting them and goading them into playing better.

In a riveting scene at a midway point in the film, Fletcher wants an incredibly fast tempo from his drummers. But all three student percussionists in the room, Andrew included, fail to meet his expectations. He temporarily dismisses the rest of the players and orders his three drummers to continually rotate, playing at that unbelievable speed…grilling them until one of them can deliver what he wants. Hours pass. The drummers are drenched in sweat and exhausted, and when Andrew steps in again and starts to play, the pain and determination are etched in his face as Fletcher yells at him. Blood from blisters on his hands splatters over the kit, and finally, finally…Fletcher stops him. “You’ve earned it.” That’s about all the approval he’ll get.

The film has more than one extremely intense scene like that, where the two characters face off against each other. To Simmons’ credit, Fletcher has a few moments where he is seen as a multi-dimensional human being, and not just a jazz directing monster, stalking the conservatory halls. You simply get a very clear sense that the music is everything to him. There is nothing else. Other things, including people’s feelings, only interfere with the pursuit of greatness. Fletcher himself illustrates this point with a well-known apocryphal story about jazz legend Charlie Parker, and the conductor/teacher that drove him to practice so maniacally that he became the virtuoso he was.

The climactic concert scene is one I won’t spoil here, but it is beautifully shot and edited, with some snappy camera work that drives home the back and forth, push and pull, antagonistic nature of the relationship between Andrew and Fletcher. Whiplash is a film about such a specific world that it may not be for everyone, but for anyone who wants a glimpse at the building of a genius, the sacrifices an artist makes for creative perfection, and the complicated relationship between a mentor and a protege, it shouldn’t be missed.

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Going, going, going...GONE.

I finally got a chance to see David Fincher's big screen adaptation of Gone Girl earlier this week. I had a complicated relationship with the book, as you can read here. Basically, I loved the book, but felt VERY unsatisfied with the ending.

I think, in as much as it was possible with a plot so dependent on unreliable narrators, Fincher put together a pretty masterful film. Everything about it, the performances, the cinematography, the color palette, the music...it was almost right. Almost normal. Almost perfect. But something is always...off. Nothing is exactly what it seems. The flashback sequences to the beginning of Nick and Amy's relationship have a particularly dreamlike quality, which makes perfect sense in light of later reveals.

This is a tough adaptation to write about without spoilers. So if you haven't seen the film or read the book, and you plan to do either, you should not continue reading...

First of all, I have to heap praise on Rosamund Pike. While she's been in numerous films over the past few years, she hasn't had what I would call a "breakout role." And Amy Dunne is nothing if not a breakout role. The line she is asked to walk, between believable vulnerability, snobby confidence, and icy sociopath, would be an enormous challenge for any actor, and she manages to pull it off beautifully. (Literally, as well...with her Grace Kelly looks, Pike is striking in every frame.) Not to be outdone, Affleck manages to tap into Nick's questionable moral compass, capturing a man who is NOT likeable and yet, in this film, is the closest thing we have to a hero.

The supporting cast is also great, especially Carrie Coon as Margo, Nick's twin sister, and Kim Dickens as Detective Boney. Even Tyler Perry, not known as a particularly good actor, acquits himself well as the confident and overpriced attorney Nick hires in an effort to protect himself.

One of the more surprising performances for me was Neil Patrick Harris as Desi Collings, Amy's highschool boyfriend and a dangerous obsessive who she turns to when, after escaping and pretending to be dead, she's robbed of all her carefully saved money. But Desi, as weirdly menacing as he is with his expensive pressed shirts and immaculate mansion prisons, is no match for Amy.

Frankly, nobody is. Which is what made the back half of this movie a particularly wicked delight to watch. It's one thing to read Amy on the page...she's remarkable enough there. But to see Pike bring her to life...every calculated move, every manipulation, every carefully posed, pre-planned step carried out with surgical precision? It's chilling, in the best possible way. In fact, the last act of the movie dips dangerously close to black comedy or even camp, but in Fincher's hands it works, and there were moments that I laughed at the absurdity. But that's not a criticism, that's a compliment. I felt like cheering for Amy. She's horribly wonderful--a perfect blonde nightmare, and you can't help but applaud her bad-assedness.

So the movie was entertaining, dark, grim, funny, twisted, and all the other things that I loved about the book. The ending, unfortunately was only modified slightly...the fundamentals are the same. Yet it didn't bother me in the same way it did in the book. Maybe because I knew it was coming, maybe because watching Amy actually brought to life had that bizarre effect I listed above, where even as I recognized her inhumanity, I admired her gusto, her brilliance, and her complete unwillingness to compromise, no matter how fucked up it will make things for other people. Even innocent people.

Bravo, Amy. Bravo.

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Gracepoint/Broadchurch.

I watched the premiere of the Fox series Gracepoint last night. I adored the original British series, Broadchurch, that Gracepoint is based on. (You can read more about that here and here.) I also speculated on the potential of the American remake. (You can read about that here.) Well, now the show has finally arrived and speculation is no longer necessary. If you haven't seen Gracepoint (or Broadchurch, for that matter) and are planning on waching either, beware...potential spoilers ahead.

I couldn't help but wonder, as I watched the pilot, what I would think of it if I HADN'T seen Broadchurch. And I think, in general, I would have liked it. The performances seemed strong, the whodunit component was clearly established, and the intense emotional undercurrents that separate it from so many other crime shows seemed to be intact. The problem is, I HAVE seen Broadchurch. Seen it and loved it. And shot for shot, this seems an almost identical remake. And that never goes well. (See the first season of the American Office.) So to me, while I can't say Gracepoint's pilot was bad, it just seemed like a pale imitation of something I had already seen done so beautifully and originally.

All of the iconic moments that I could recall from the Broadchurch premiere were here. Danny (they even kept the dead boy's same name) poised on the edge of a cliff in the cold open. Danny's father moving through the town's main thoroughfare, in a tracking shot that establishes our cast of local figures, all of whom we'll get to know better in coming episodes. David Tennant's grizzled city cop looking askance at a fence break in our introduction to his character. Danny's mother running in slow motion down a traffic filled street when she hears there's been a body found on the beach. Anna Gunn's Ellie Miller crying on the beach when she realizes she knows the dead boy...and on and on and on.

That's not to say the performances were bad. They weren't. Anna Gunn in particular seems to be handling her role quite well. I'm not as sold on Michael Pena as Danny's father, but Virginia Kull, who plays his mother, Beth, did a very good job with all the heavy lifting she was required to do as a grief stricken mother. I don't understand why Tennant had to have an American accent (the inn-keeper in Gracepoint has a British accent) because as talented as he is, it makes him seem like he's working a bit harder than he should to stay in character. I love him, and I'm glad they kept him in the part...I just don't see why he couldn't stay British.

My biggest concern, as a viewer of the original series, is one I already alluded to earlier in this blog. This pilot makes it seem like the American series is going to be, point for point, character for character, identical to the British series. If that's the case, I'm not sure why I would want to keep watching. It's a great story, but it's a mystery, and I already know the ending. Do I need to see it play out again, in California instead of England? The original ending is very powerful, and very chilling. I don't know if the could do better than that. That being said, I'd like to see them try to switch it up. Otherwise, there isn't much point in a viewer like me continuing to watch.

I will say, one thing I often forget...a lot of people are not as TV-obsessed as I am. And while I know a fair amount of people who love British TV, I know amongst the American viewing public at large, that is probably generally the case. So maybe Fox just thought, hey...we know this show is good. Let's just set it in California and see what happens. And maybe that'll work. But for this viewer, the only motivation to keep watching each week will be to see what's changed...to see if they can give this mystery something new and unique that will make it good in its own right, and not just competent because it's walking in the exact steps of a superior series.

[howyoucouchit]

Baby Daddy Drama, Mama!

Nashville is two episodes into its third season, and I just have to give it up for a show that continues to be a hot soapy mess, and yet Nashville, I can't quit you. So if you AREN'T caught up yet, avoid the following snarky, spoilery, gif-filled post. I am digging in deep to the new season, y'all.

When I realized Nashville's season premiere was already here.

When the season premiere had Rayna pondering, AGAIN, whether to be with Deacon, and Tandy kept saying the same boring stuff she always says.

When I realized, this week, that Tandy was "moving to San Francisco to work at a non-profit."

When Scarlett, Gunner and DrunkAvery ended up on a road trip to nowhere together.

When this week's episode teased that Scarlett and Gunner still have "song writin' chemistry" and Zoe saw it and got pissed and messed up her background dancer steps at rehearsal.

When Maddie walked around pissed at every adult, copping major 'tude.

When Rayna chose to marry Luke and left Deacon high and dry...AGAIN.

And finally, most importantly of all...when we find out Juliette has a bun in the oven.

When that baby was CONFIRMED to be Avery's, right before she was planning to get rid of it.

And when Juliette, like the queen of everything that she is, channeled all her angst and emotion into her Patsy Cline audition...including cutting her fucking hair off!

(It's convenient that Juliette's pregnancy matches Hayden Panettiere's real life pregnancy, no?)

Good to have you back, Nashville.

[howyoucouchit]

And now your host...Starlord!

Chris Pratt hosted the season premiere of SNL last night, and I was excited to watch. Pratt seems ideally suited to be a host. Genuinely funny, relaxed and someone who seems to really want to just have fun. He can embrace the spirit of hosting--which is to enjoy yourself. Because if you do, the audience will too.

There are some new faces on the show this year, as there always are. (And notable traditional elements gone as the show enters its 40th season. RIP Don Pardo. The open is not the same without you.) Weekend Update was one place where these new faces really performed. Michael Che, recently of The Daily Show, was lured away by SNL to help anchor with Colin Jost. He'd obviously more than proven himself in the fake news arena based on his three month stint under Jon Stewart. (Stewart and the rest of the correspondents gave Che a hilarious send-off based on the fact  that he really hadn't worked there that long, and he was already leaving.) Che is the first African American anchor of Weekend Update, and in my opinion is funnier than Colin Jost. (Jost may be a great writer, but his delivery still seems a bit flat.)

The other new face that stood out for me was a young (VERY young) performer named Pete Davidson, who did a bit on Weekend Update that I can't really adequately describe here, in terms of content. I can only say that it ended up being very funny, in a way that I didn't expect it to be, and that Davidson impressed me because he is so young and he seemed incredibly comfortable and confident in front of the camera.

Pratt definitely jumped into all the roles he was called to tackle, including a very odd but funny sketch about He-Man and Lion-O where he and Taran Killam wore elaborate makeup and costumes and learned about the pleasures of cake and touching their crotches. There was a pretty funny Guardians of the Galaxy parody citing Marvel's ability to put their brand on any odd collection of characters and still score a big hit. My favorite of these was "Marvel's Pam." (Cut to Aidy Bryant in a cardigan and khakis, walking down the space ship hallway, waving at people. Followed, naturally by "Pam 2: Winter Pam.")

Aidy Bryant actually had a great night. Not all the sketches landed, but she was the bright spot in almost everyone she was in. She has a remarkable ability to sell ballsy, sex-focused characters in a way that is really hilarious to watch. She and Pratt had a particularly good sketch together later in the evening where they were shyly and awkwardly approaching each other to flirt, only to suddenly burst into sexually charged rap verse.

For the sketches that didn't land as solidly, the endings seemed to be the weak point. The Lion-O and He-Man sketch had a fairly funny premise, but it was clear the writers weren't sure how to end it. And there was another sketch that felt the same way...like the actors just kind of exited the set, and that was it. It's a bit disappointing when that happens, and leaves you with a less positive impression, even if most of the sketch WAS funny. The other really odd choice of the night was a purposefully bad sitcom parody with Christ Pratt, Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett. I laughed some when I watched it, but it was SO odd I think I also spent a fair amount of time going, "What IS this?" It had purposefully bad sets, dialogue, costumes, musical transitions, and audio. Meant, it seems, to mimic the TGIF style sitcoms of the early 90s. All three actors gave unenthused, almost wooden line readings. The whole thing was just very strange...and went on longer than I thought it would. I still can't decide if I liked it for being so risky and weird, or just feel like it was a lot of effort for small payoff.

As for Ariana Grande, I can't say anything about her. I fast forwarded through most of her performances. I had a vague impression of cat ears and high heels, and that's about it. Overall, though, I did enjoy the episode, even if it was only lukewarm in parts. Pratt's energy and enthusiasm carried him through, most of the new cast seems game, and there were a few standouts that indicate promising things for the future of the show.

[howyoucouchit]

Gotham and Sleepy Hollow: Mondays are fun days!

I just watched Fox's new Monday night line-up. Gotham premiered at 8 on Monday, and Sleepy Hollow returned for a second season at 9. I was excited for both shows. Sleepy Hollow was a surprise guilty pleasure for me last fall, and Gotham had one of the more intriguing premises this year. Spoilers ahead if you haven't watched and you're planning to...

Let's start with the newbie. There was a line in Gotham where one of the characters says to Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) that the city stands on knife's edge. That's actually a pretty accurate description of the show itself. After watching it, I can't tell you if I thought it was good or bad. I honestly don't know yet. But I would count it as a successful pilot because it made me want to tune in again...and that's where the "knife's edge" metaphor is applicable. The second episode could be really great, and I wouldn't be surprised. Or it could be really terrible...and I wouldn't be surprised.

It gets points for style. The city looks grim, but not too grim, and they do some fun and interesting things with color and light. Some scenes are warm and saturated, others are cool and blue-toned...kind of like the ongoing struggle between good and evil that is at the heart of the city and its characters. I still don't find McKenzie especially dynamic, and that's a shame...the dialogue was one of the weaker parts of the show, and for us to buy into a do-gooder protagonist like Jim Gordon, McKenzie has to sell it. The actors who did more scenery chewing actually gave more effective peformances--especially Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney, and Robin Lord Taylor as the creepy Oswald Cobblepot (before he learned to embrace his Penguin moniker).

The winks and nods to the canonical figures from the Batman mythos can be amusing, but also overdone. (Anyone else care to speculate that the young comedian auditioning for Fish Mooney is someone we might see again as the Joker? He was never mentioned in the press that I saw, but I wouldn't put it past them to be planting seeds for Batman's most iconic villain.) So we'll see what next week brings. I'm definitely willing to give it at least a few more episodes to settle into a groove.

Now, on to Sleepy Hollow. The first ten minutes of the episode made me really angry. I couldn't BELIEVE they would do a time jump after that cliff-hanger ending last year. Or eliminate Jenny and Katrina in one fell swoop. "Lazy writing!" I was thinking. "Poor form!" But of course, I didn't give the show enough credit. One of the things that was so remarkable about the first season of Sleepy Hollow was the breakneck pacing of the plot...and yet the writers managed to keep building that plane in mid-air, instead of falling out of the sky like many of us predicted. And they haven't lost their touch. It's hard to always say exactly what's happening in any given episode, but when you're watching it, you don't question it and you just enjoy the ride. That's the sign of a winning formula, I think.

Beharie and Mison were back, both in prime form, and I'm glad the episode didn't leave Abbie Mills stranded in Purgatory overly long. Their chemistry is great and they're so much more fun to watch when they're working as a team. Crane got a few great "Ichabod and modern technology" moments--including an attempt at driving a car and trying to record a video with his phone. There were some highly humorous Ben Franklin flashbacks (Ichabod was his apprentice, because OF COURSE he was), secret codes and a hidden key, fights with the Horseman, and most importantly it seems John Noble is not going anywhere any time soon. And there's almost no show I can think of that wouldn't be improved by adding John Noble. So all the essential ingredients of a Sleepy Hollow episode were present.

I did find it interesting that Katrina is once again separated from Ichabod. They made his quest to get her back last a whole season, and that was enough for me. I don't care if they reunite, but I think of her as a distraction from the insanity of the horsemen, so I'd rather she was all the way incorporated with the characters in modern times, or not in the show at all. But it looks like, from the teaser for next week, we'll get more about Katrina's fate.

All in all, I was pleased with Sleepy Hollow's season opener...even the bait and switch at the top. Is it an insane show? Yes, undoubtedly. Is that why we find it so entertaining? Yes, undoubtedly.