The Dailies 7/27/10: Two Different Kinds of Nightmares

Trailers

- Until the Light Takes Us (2008) - C
- Directed by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell
- Featuring Varg Vikernes, Fenriz, Hellhammer

- Lone Star (1996) - C-
- Directed by John Sayles
- Starring Elizabeth Pena, Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson

- Gosford Park (2001) - B+
- Directed by Robert Altman
- Starring Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren

The Town That Was (2007)
Directed by Chris Perkel and Georgie Roland
Featuring John Lokitis, Todd Domboski, David DeKok

The Town That Was is a documentary that looks at the nearly uninhabited borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, located in the east-central portion of the state. Centralia, once an active mining town with thousands of residents, became a ghost town after a mine fire started underneath its surface and quickly spread out of control in the early 60s. The fire could not be contained (and actually continues to burn today), and various health risks to residents, such as sinkholes and noxious gases, caused most of the populace to move away by the early 1980s.

The film states the facts of what happened to cause the town’s demise and talking heads are used to articulate the feelings of the townspeople on having to leave Centralia. The Town That Was does well to present the history of the town in a humanistic way. Rather than present Centralia as an oddity, the filmmakers do well to show that it was once a vibrant community with real people in it. The use of old video footage of town parades and picnics is well used in stark contrast to the nearly empty place Centralia is today.

The town and its peculiar situation makes the work of the directors much easier. The imagery is inherently eerie and off-putting. We see the few remaining homes of people too old or too stubborn to leave; the local cemetery; a solitary bench with stencil letters reading “Centralia, PA”. In the cemetery, former residents, who loved the town and called it home and died in some cases long before the fire started, are now one of the only markers that indicate there was even a town there to begin with.

A few former town dignitaries and residents are spoken with, but Centralia is largely represented by John Lokitis, a thirty-something man who still lives in one of the town’s few remaining homes as one of its remaining people. Lokitis refused to abandon Centralia, even though the majority of residents fled while he was still a child. In the film, he laments that everyone moved away and claims that the state government overstated the health risks involved with staying in Centralia. He continues to mow the town’s lawns and put its Christmas lights up. He seems possessed.

The film detours and spends a lot of time looking at the plight of Centralia through Lokitis’ eyes. He’s fascinating. He’s a dopey, single, still-young guy who for some unknown reason cares so much about preserving the town’s legacy in any way he can. He continues living there even after his parents and family have left, and he seems to hold genuine scorn for the people who chose to accept a government buyout of their properties after the town was declared unlivable. He is portrayed as a hopelessly unflappable champion of a town destroyed and forgotten, and the film rightfully allows us to decide whether he’s noble or foolish.

The Town That Was has a runtime of seventy minutes, barely qualifying it as a movie. The filmmakers have an annoying habit of holding the camera on a subject for a few seconds after they’ve stopped talking, as a clumsy way of trying to add gravity to whatever had been said. The film has stylistic and technical flaws, but it covers its subject matter both imaginatively and well. B.

(The Town That Was is available for free viewing on hulu.com.)

Inception (2010)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy

Otherworldly, mind-bending thrillers, by their very nature, ask viewers to take certain leaps of faith and suspend logic in particular instances. Depending on a variety of factors (the quality of the film and its acting, the egregiousness of the leap of faith in question) these suspensions of logic are either welcomed or laughed at, and they can either make a film like this or break it. Inception gambled, creating a film with a fantastical foundation that unfortunately tries to pile on too much mumbo-jumbo and quick-cut action, bogging the film down and making the whole exercise exponentially more confusing.

Before extrapolating on that, it must be said that Inception is an entertaining film. It is very inventive, both in terms of its plot and its special effects. It’s impeccably shot as well, with director Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight) capably handling the difficult task of visually creating a dreamscape on film.

The premise of Inception is terrific. A team of skilled “extractors” (or dream-thieves) are tapped to plant an idea within the head of a target rather than extract information. Early scenes that discuss how the dream world works and how the dream areas are created are fascinating. It would take too long to relay the intricacies of how “inception” works, but for the most part, the first hour of the film lays out the rules and guidelines for the plot quite well.

The bulk of the film is spent following the planting of the idea in Robert Fischer’s head (Murphy), and that’s where things get tricky. New concepts, techniques, and procedures are brought up constantly, making it difficult to follow both what’s happening at that moment and how it figures into the timeline of the film as a whole. In order for the inception team to plant the idea into his mind, they have to go into a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream (seriously), with scenes occurring consecutively within different levels of the dream world. It sounds confusing because it is, and though when watching the film we receive sharp action scenes as distraction, it’s really difficult to pinpoint what’s happening, where it’s happening, and why.

The film’s final act, comprising roughly the last forty-five minutes, was particularly troublesome. Instead of a reasoned, understandable conclusion to the film, we’re treated to a maelstrom of action scenes set in different locales, pertaining to different aspects of the plot. Every shot within the last forty-five minutes is either an explosion, someone dodging gunfire, or a zany plot twist. What began as an inventive and interesting action-thriller goes full-tilt into craziness due to hyperactive imagination and a lack of patience. There is a brilliant film to be made with the jumbled pieces of Inception, but the way they were assembled makes it nothing more than an interesting, sleek, and ultimately empty action film. C+.

John Lacey

The Random Ten #18

#1) She & Him – “I Should Have Known Better” – Volume One (2008)

I’ve heard nothing but good things about She & Him, the American indie-folk duo comprised of actress Zooey Deschanel (she) and songwriter M. Ward (him). Until now, however, I’ve never actually took the time to listen to any of their material. “I Should Have Known Better” has a luau-lounge sound, like something you’d hear at a dimly-lit, red-tinged Chinese restaurant’s bar. Like a lot of luau-sounding music, it floats by easily, nudged along by the soft alternating vocals of the two musicians. It’s pleasant and professional, but a bit airy.

#2) King Crimson – “The Great Deceiver” – Starless And Bible Black (1974)

Along with Yes and perhaps early Genesis, King Crimson is thought of as one of the quintessential zany 70s prog-rock groups. They’re best known for what people call “the album with the crazy face on it” (In The Court Of The Crimson King [1969]), but the band has released about 100 other albums since then.

“The Great Deceiver” alternates between a pseudo-rant from singer John Wetton and bursts of unfocused power that contain some inventive riffing. The song eventually devolves and starts going all over the place, introducing new tempos and movements at random. It’s not quite good, but it’s certainly interesting.

#3) Modest Mouse – “The Good Times Are Killing Me” – Good News For People Who Love Bad News (2004)

Good News For People Who Love Bad News is the album that contained “Float On”, a hit that sent Modest Mouse from little-heard indie rock darlings to rock superstars. They’ve yet to replicate the runaway success of that song, though their 2007 follow-up, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts.

Most Modest Mouse songs fall into one of two categories: frenetic and hectic or contemplative and subdued. “The Good Times Are Killing Me” falls into the latter group, though lead singer Isaac Brock still sounds as manic as he usually does despite the softer tone. The title and subject matter of this song always struck a somber chord with me; the idea that the “good times” are just booze and drug fueled parties that are really wearing us down rather than providing us with any long-term happiness. Modest Mouse has a knack for looking at basic ideas with an esoteric slant. Good song.

#4) Megadeth – “Psychotron” – Countdown To Extinction (1992)

Countdown To Extinction is a criminally underrated metal record that stands with anything else Megadeth released before it, and probably represents their last complete album. “Psychotron” has great riffs and is forceful enough to get its message across, but it loses points for the ridiculously stupid chorus, during which Dave Mustaine sings:

Part bionic
And organic
Not a cyborg
Call him psychotron

You see, the song is about a half-man, half-machine sentient evil robot. Really dumb. That’s the problem I have with a lot of metal at this point in my life. The music still sounds good, but the lyrics not only are inane and unenlightening, but cause me to cringe with second-hand embarrassment. Too bad, because everything else is good here.

#5) Sunset Valley – “Matinee Idol” – Icepond (2001)

“Matinee Idol” is good, soft indie-rock surrounded by a low and contemplative buzz. It features understated guitar and vocals that wisely eventually break into a jarring electric guitar part to liven things up. After this sequence repeats a couple of times, the song takes on a trance-like atmosphere and begs for another listen.

#6) The Magnetic Fields – “I Shatter” – 69 Love Songs (1999)

Released on the second volume of the three-volume concept album 69 Love Songs, “I Shatter” is really cool and really strange. It features a repeating violin (or some such stringed instrument) with vocals that are put through an effect that makes them sound simultaneously monstrous and robotic. The juxtaposition of these vocals against the classic sound of the strings provides an interesting dynamic that is charmingly strange. “I Shatter” is a bit of a curiosity, but it’s worth a listen for its inventiveness.

#7) Stone Temple Pilots – “Big Bang Baby” – Thank You (2003; originally appeared on Tiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop [1996])

“Big Bang Baby” was the lead single from STP’s 1996 album Tiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop. Stone Temple Pilots was a singles machine throughout most of the 1990s, churning out a slew of mainstream rock hits that were fun to listen to and immediately caught attention.

It’s too bad the band didn’t have more depth beyond its hit-making abilities, because they certainly had ample talent and knew how to write hooks and choruses. “Big Bang Baby”, like much of their output, is formulaic and predictable, but it’s energetic, fun, and easy to get into. Sometimes big, dumb rock can be rewarding, and STP’s collection of singles is proof of that.

#8) Grateful Dead – “West L.A. Fadeaway” – In The Dark (1987)

“West L.A. Fadeaway” was written about John Belushi and his descent into drugs and subsequent early death. It is culled from the Grateful Dead’s unexpected hit album In The Dark, which contained their biggest chart hit in their career, “Touch Of Grey”.

The song bounces along nicely, though it does sound quite dated (you wouldn’t have to guess when it was recorded too many times before landing on 1987). It has the requisite jam and is allowed to breathe through a semi-majestic chorus. “West L.A. Fadeaway” is a decent song, but it’s hard to shake the idea that a lot of the Dead’s 80s studio work sounds overproduced, too glossy and too manufactured, meaning it barely sounds like the Dead at all.

#9) Big Star – “She’s A Mover” – Radio City (1974)

Big Star lead singer and guitarist Alex Chilton recently passed away a few months ago, and when I saw Wilco in April, they closed their set with a Big Star song, “Thank You Friends”. It’s easy to hear the influence Big Star had on Wilco and other contemporaries.

“She’s A Mover” is tight but twangy indie-sounding rock, with a brief runtime and just the right amount of hooks to bring the listener back for more. The song sounds like it has one foot in the past (the Beatles influence is evident) and one in the future, because we’re now aware of what this influenced. A really good song.

#10) Dire Straits – “The Man’s Too Strong” – Brothers In Arms (1985)

From the album that produced gigantic mid-80s hit “Money For Nothing”, “The Man’s Too Strong” is more of a folksy ditty than a rock anthem. It’s refreshing to know that there was a time when an album that sold about ten million copies could have a song that sounds like this on it; it would be an impossibility now.

That’s not to say “The Man’s Too Strong” is very good. It’s atmospheric in an 80s way (synths and guitar effects) and quite boring throughout. It doesn’t sound like anything that would accompany “Money For Nothing”, but I respect Dire Straits mastermind Mark Knopfler a little more for that.

John Lacey

Shit from the 90s #6: TGIF!

In 1988, ABC executives decided to revamp their Friday night prime-time schedule. Rather than use Friday night as the customary dumping ground for low-rated shows the network needed to burn through in order to fulfill their obligations, they tried something zany. They thought, “You know who’s watching TV on Friday nights? Families with young children who have nothing else to do!”

It was a good idea. No one with a social life watches TV on a Friday night, but families have no choice. The kids are too young to leave home alone. Parents are too lazy and too tired after a workday or watching the kids all day. Most parents have long had their adventurous and free-wheeling spirits broken by those same children years before. Millions of mothers and fathers saw the ads, turned to their spouses, and said with resignation, “You know what? Instead of taking the kids to the Ground Round, let’s order a pizza and watch Family Matters instead.”

The idea was simple enough, but ABC needed both content and a catchy name. The catchy name they stole from early 70s Akron DJ Jerry Healy, who initially would say “Thank God It’s Friday” during his rush hour broadcasts (courtesy Wikipedia). ABC, fearing reprisals from atheists, I suppose, changed the term to “Thank Goodness It’s Friday” for their block of programming. This, of course, led to innumerable dipshits using the phrase non-ironically throughout the 90s and even into today. It also gave name to a low-rent restaurant chain, T.G.I. Friday’s, now found on every street corner in America.

The content was easy, too. Families are the target audience, right? So why not make every show on TGIF chock full of bland, inoffensive, unfunny comedy that the entire family can halfheartedly pretend to enjoy? Most shows on TGIF were about families, and each tried to strike a balance between the characters and their wacky high jinks and those same characters learning life lessons with the help of their family unit. Many of the shows also had a bumbling knucklehead who would constantly do and say stupid things and annoy the main characters.

What’s interesting about TGIF is the idea that instead of doing “family things” like talking, playing games and simply enjoying each other’s company, real families would instead gather each Friday night to watch fake families do those things. There’s something off-putting about a product that markets itself specifically to families, but requires that those families do very un-family things (like sitting silently and watching television). If the shows had actually been good, I could understand blowing my family off for television, but in looking back the carnival of crap that was TGIF, I wish I could have some of that time back.

A Selection of TGIF Programs

Perfect Strangers
- Years active: 1986-1993
- Years in TGIF lineup: 1988-1992
- Premise: a naïve and crazed Greek shepherd named Balki comes to live with his straight-laced cousin in Chicago. Hilarity ensues as Balki constantly does foolish, un-American things, much to the chagrin and embarrassment of his cousin.
- Drawing card: Balki, played by Bronson Pinchot. The loveable dope was at the forefront of all ads and promotional materials for the show.

Family Matters
- Years active: 1989-1998 (1997-1998 season was on CBS)
- Years in TGIF lineup: 1989-1997
- Premise: follows a large, African-American Chicago-based family and their oft-hilarious trials and tribulations. The family includes people young and old and everything in between, setting up all kinds of opportunities for its members to gain valuable life experience. Nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel breaks things and annoys everyone.
- Drawing card: Urkel, played by Jaleel White. Steve Urkel became a legitimate sensation in the United States in the early 1990s based on his nasally voice, ridiculous appearance, and his throng of catchphrases. Honorable mention goes to Waldo Geraldo Faldo (Shawn Harrison), Eddie Winslow’s dimwitted friend.

Boy Meets World
- Years active: 1993-2000
- Years in TGIF lineup: 1993-2000
- Premise: a middle school (and later high school) boy copes with the transition of moving from boyhood to adulthood. Of course, he has a wonderful family and strong friends to help him each step of the way!
- Drawing card: Uh, I dunno. There wasn’t really a kooky sidekick who would spout off catchphrases. I guess Shawn Patrick Hunter (Rider Strong), best friend to main character Cory Matthews, best constitutes the BMW drawing card.
- Recommended viewing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgbvtZAYv1g&feature=related

Step By Step
- Years active: 1991-1998 (1997-1998 season was on CBS)
- Years in TGIF lineup: 1991-1996
- Premise: two already large families combine when single dad Patrick Duffy marries single mom Suzanne Somers. The show is spent detailing the uneasy tensions between the two sides of the newer, bigger family.
- Drawing card: Cody (aka “the Code Man”), played by Sasha Mitchell. Perhaps the archetype for “dumb and crazy TGIF sidekick”, Cody helped popularize the phrases “Dude!” and “Ch-yeah!” in the United States and abroad.

John Lacey