Marco Polo

Started watching Marco Polo on Netflix. The reviews are mixed, trending toward the down side but there’s a lot of good going on in this series. Following the same Silk Road followed by Marco Polo the shooting locations span from Venice to Malaysia to Kazakhstan.

Minimal CGI, real sets and being shot in 4K should garner some respect. Netflix went all out for this series and I plan on watching all of the episodes.

 

Breaking Bad

Getting caught up on Breaking Bad, with the finale tonight. We’re just starting Season 5, so as much as we’re tempted to spend the next few hours catching up we’re not going to. We’re watching it on Netflix, who, according to creator Vince Gilligan, helped save the series. Breaking Bad is so good on so many levels, the writing, acting, production and photography. As soon as we’re done I’m going to go back and study the cinematography, which has impressed me the most.

I really like the notion of Breaking Bad going out on top. From a revenue standpoint, I read that AMC is asking for, and getting, $300,000 to $400,000 for thirty second commercial spots on tonight’s finale. That’s up from $130,000 to $140,000 for previous episodes. I’m happy AMC isn’t milking this cash cow to death.

What’s also interesting is when they approached HBO about the series, Gilligan said, “They wouldn’t even grace us with a ‘no’. They were basically like, ‘Just get out of the office, please.’”

So this is the end for Breaking Bad, or is it? In a sense, no. A new series is being produced about the criminal lawyer (heavy on criminal) Saul Goodman, named “Better Call Saul.” I’ll keep my expectations medium, but my hopes high.

Great job and good luck to the cast and crew of Breaking Bad.

The Sharknado Buzz

I got caught up in the Sharknado buzz and watched the reprise on Thursday night. Sharknado is a true stinker, not only in the implausibility of the plot, but by the bad acting and poorly executed action sequences.

In case you’re not familiar with Sharknado. the plot revolves around a hurricane building off the coast of southern California (Santa Monica Pier, exactly) producing a set of waterspouts sucking up densely populated sharks and spewing them all over Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, consuming people in their trajectories.

Was this the sanitized version? I suspect so since it was placed in the 7-9PM time slot. Here’s a typical action sequence: we see a stock wide angle shot of a surfer gliding across a wave, the surfer tiny and the scene panoramic, then cut to a head and shoulder shot of the actor in front of a green screen, barely wet, pretending to surf. This is pretty much the motif of most of the action sequences, including sharks eating people. We rarely see  any real, raw action. It’s all implied and highly unsatisfying.

The voice over CNN reporter really was the cherry on top of this badness cake. The nervous lady who articulates “attention K Mart shoppers” at our local outlet sounds more professional and polished.

I just read about The Asylum studio that produced Sharknado and countless other low budget science fiction and horror flicks in the latest GQ that came this morning. Apparently their budget per film is $500,000, produce “mockbusters” such as Atlantic Rim from Pacific Rim, American Battleship from Battleship, etc. , and haven’t lost money yet. They have a fanatical following and Sharknado is right up their alley.

Yes, there is a big buzz about Sharknado’s campiness, and a Sharknado 2 is in the works. By all means, go ahead and watch it, but be prepared to be disappointed. I expected to be mildly entertained, but Sharknado missed the mark. I’m sure The Asylum fans love it. If you want to see a good, low budget shark movie, watch The Reef.

Grade: D

Links to trailers:

Sharknado  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsqFR5bh6Q

The Reef http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UD2gbjB3vw

The Asylum http://www.theasylum.cc/

Under The Dome Miniseries Premier Review

The first episode of Stephen King’s Under The Dome premiered on Monday night. Here’s a few of the highlights:

• The earthquake-like vibrations before the dome hits was interesting and entertaining.
• The dome landing and laterally bisecting a cow was much better than the woodchuck being cut in two in the book.
• The pissed off fireman rushing out of the cab ready to kick the main character Barbie’s ass was good acting.
• To a lesser degree, the tail section of the Cessna 172 almost hitting the kid on the farm and the severed leg landing nearby was cool.

That aside, the whole one hour episode moved too fast attempting to introduce a plethora of characters and motivations. The worst offender, to me, was the switchblade-flicking son of the wealthy car salesman. He’s totally unconvincing when he confronts Barbie after Barbie had a brief and benign conversation with the kid’s girlfriend. Too great a manufactured conflict.

In the end, it boils down to the cast. Compare Under The Dome to an earlier King story, The Mist, released in 2007. The Mist was adapted and directed by Frank Darabont. For what the film lacked in budget it made up for in casting, with Thomas Jane as the main protagonist, Marcia Gay Harden as a religious fanatic, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn and Melissa McBride in supporting roles, among many others. The cast of The Mist had presence and depth, and it’s probably no coincidence that most of them wound up on The Walking Dead (during the Frank Darabont seasons). Thomas Jane would have played a great Rick.

The cast of Under The Dome, at least right now, lacks charisma and empathy which is all important to the survival of a series. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trashing Under The Dome. I like it, but too much was thrown at the audience too rapidly. I just wish Under The Dome would have been produced by a cable channel, such as AMC rather than a mainstream network which reduces everything it touches to the lowest level, common denominator form. Why is that?

Bottom line: Under The Dome is well worth watching, but let’s hope the pacing improves.

Grade: B-

Oscar Picks

The Academy Awards seem lackluster to me this year. I saw this in the Village Voice and it pretty much sums up this year’s awards: http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-02-22/columns/oscar-predictions-meryl-streep/

 

Soul Train, American Bandstand and Don C.

Bummer about Soul Train’s Don C. It was cool in the old days when it was on right after American Bandstand on Saturdays. What a fascinating contrast in cultures and it all revolved around the same thing- music.

Steve Van Zandt’s Lilyhammer

Steve Van Zandt has a new mafia comedy series called Lilyhammer that’s hit it big in Norway. I watched the trailer and it looks great. Van Zandt is a mafia boss who flips and chooses to live in Norway under witness protection. He opens a bar and the series takes off from there. Netflix obtained North American rights and it will start streaming on Feb. 6. Check out this link for more info and a trailer: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-van-zandt-s-lilyhammer-285271