reviews + commentary
weekend
PAGE 10 | JULY 17, 2014
movie
television
A chimp off the old blockbuster
Re-vamped horror? A little writing about TV writing “The Strain”
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
Starring: Corey Stoll, Mia Maestro, Sean Astin,
Starring: Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke,
commentary
B-
B Some movies have concepts so ludicrous it becomes almost impossible to suspend disbelief. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is almost one of these films, but manages to just barely avoid this fate thanks to a compelling performance by Andy Serkis. Serkis plays an ape called Caesar, the benevolent ruler of the escaped test subjects from the previous installment. They have their own colony, complete with schooling, hospital care and culture. They go on hunts and enjoy conversations after dinner. This peace is shattered when a human scavenging party comes across them. Turns out, the simian flu that gave the apes their intelligence — with the side effect of wiping out most of the human population — left a few survivors. The protagonists Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Ellie (Keri Russell) only want peace. However, their leader at the ruins of San Francisco, Dreyfus (Gary Oldman), thirsts for vengeance. War seems inevitable, especially since Caesar’s attempts at peace are often undermined by Koba (Toby Kebbell), who thinks humans are too dangerous to trust. The story of two parties on the brink of violence is familiar. The relationships make us overlook that. Ellie and Malcolm share a love built on mutual loss. Both of their families were killed by
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the simian flu. Caesar is humanized by his struggle to balance the duties of leadership with the responsibilities of fatherhood. Serkis will certainly get an Oscar someday for his pioneering in the field of motion capture performance. The expressions, voice and body language he gives Caesar are transformative. They alone are worth the price of admission. The rest of the movie is pretty good, despite every now and then the viewers realize they are watching a movie where monkeys ride on horses and shoot people. These images are never quite goofy enough to spoil the movie’s fun, but it is occasionally a close call. The movie ultimately works because the political tension between apes and humans feels real. Interactions between the groups are flawed, complex and tinged with sadness. In short, they are human. Director Matt Reeves has signed on to write and direct the sequel. If he can keep this movie’s humanism and make us forget that we are watching monkeys, perhaps by telling a more original story, then he will have made the best “Planet of the Apes” movie yet. Andrew Wurdeman
Good horror is hard to come by these days, be it on television, at the movies or even in the pages of a book. In the first two media, there seems to be a dichotomy between “torture porn” stories and supernatural haunting stories. The first relies on gore, the second on jump moments. FX’s new show “The Strain” is like neither of these. Rather, its pilot, “Night Zero,” suggests the show could be of that rare breed of horror story that blends an uncanny understanding of human psychology with an exciting narrative. While the characters introduced so far threaten to stray into cliché, the episode’s rapid pace manages to make us compelled by these individuals, and will convince most viewers to tune in next week. The basic story has several threads. One is the Center for Disease Control’s investigation of a plane full of deathly passengers. This investigation is led by Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) with the help of Dr. Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) and the agreeable Jim (Sean Astin). The other story involves an old pawnshop owner Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) who is clearly something of a Van Helsing in this universe. He seems to be the only one who knows the true threat the plane full of plagued passengers possesses. He also seems to be the only person who scares the two vampire overlords overseeing the outbreak.
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Lastly, we have Gus (Miguel Gomez), who is unwittingly aiding the vampires’ plot on the assumption that this will be his last gig for the strange criminals. These plots overlap in some unexpected ways that, so far, seem irrelevant to the larger picture. The show is at its best when it creates tension. Though we can often guess the fate of a certain character, how exactly that character will or will not die is one of the joys of scary entertainment. The only downside to this is that, so far, the characters are all fairly one-note. Gus, for instance, is only working for the vampires to protect his family, while Dr. Goodweather is a talented at work but lacks as a family man. The show’s understanding of human psychology is never about the characters it creates, but rather how things scare us. To really be great, “The Strain” will have to trust us to understand its themes – the voiceover is unnecessary – and also make us care about the characters threatened with violence. As it is, the show is fun. With a little work, it could be a bloody good time. Andrew Wurdeman
Now that the World Cup is concluded, Internet talk can shift from soccer on television to actual television. Blogs, forums and messengers are once again rife with chatter about TV. The nominations for the 66th Annual Emmy Awards were released July 10 and further fueled the fire. Seeing as the Emmy Awards are my Christmas, Thanksgiving and Little 500 all wrapped up in one glorious night, I could write an entire newspaper worth of commentary on these nominations. Fear not; I won’t. Instead I will focus on what I see as one of the most important aspects of television, and siphon this column to the topic of writing. Even when performers excel at onscreen ad-libs and breathe life into the characters and stories, there would be nothing into which they could breathe if not for their writers.They are also the nerds of the television world, so I am obviously going to give them the attention they deserve. Writing is no exception to the trend of critical acclaim sliding seismically in favor of cable and premium channels.Out of 22 nominations across 4 categories for television writing, the only nominees that are not from a cable or subscription provider are “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” on NBC and “Sherlock: His Last Vow” on PBS. In the world of television drama and the mini-series and movie categories, this is nothing too drastic. The serious shows of network televisions have been long ousted by the better-budget programming of cable and premium providers. This year, however, has
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demonstrated networks’ lost grip on the comedy writing awards. I have been distressed near the point of losing sleep because of “Saturday Night Live” being shut out from a shot at an Emmy it hasn’t won since 2002. That said, it’s not like the show has been dominating the category lately. This is by no means the first time they’ve not made the list either. But with their 6-year stretch coming to an end, I fear another SNL dark age is about to ensue. The only thing keeping my hope alive is the four guest actor nominees for when Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy, Jimmy Fallon and Louis C.K. were hosts. The end of beloved and quirky comedies “The Office” and “30 Rock” also left a void waiting to be filled by network television’s opponents. I guess NBC cannot truly claim itself to be the same home to comedy that it once was. Considering the younger target audiences of a lot of television comedy, this is no shock. Network programming is not nearly as adapted for online viewership as their competition. Just ask anyone who knocked out “Orange is the New Black” in one week or less. Griffin Leeds
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812-333-1399 316 E. Fourth St.
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