CliqueClack

Olivia and Fitz’s relationship is the worst part of Scandal

I like Scandal. I like Scandal a lot actually. I have since day one. I think the show’s premise, the cast and the writing are particularly good. There’s something about the way the show is presented – specifically from a dialogue point of view – that’s reminiscent of the best of Aaron Sorkin and Amy Sherman-Palladino. Despite that love, there’s something that has bugged me about the show since early in the last season, something that I think is really beginning to drag the plot down.

Every once in a while, I have an opinion that is unpopular. By “every once in a while,” I mean quite damn often (I’m sure the editor of this post would agree with me … and the rest of my fellow Clackers as well). But I know fans of this show are particularly loyal, and particularly catty. So I know they’re not going to like what I say next.

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Who loves holiday romantic comedies? I do!

I love ION TV’s Holiday romantic comedies. Despite my cold, cynical, Grinch-like heart, I love Christmas; girly, quirky romantic comedies and films that combine both into one. I’ve always loved ION’s family friendly programming and each year I gather around the TV to catch its romantic comedies. This year, I was lucky enough to preview ION’s December 2012 romantic comedies offering cheesy, quirky, vicarious fun with a dash of hope.

I have to hand it to ION for picking films, Golden Christmas 3 and Anything But Christmas, that highlight the realistic over the idealistic. A perfect, chiseled white knight is fun; but, that isn’t what happens in actuality. Despite the Cinderella fairytales on TV, relationships aren’t meant to be easy. This year, I felt ION focused less on making ‘holiday romantic comedies’ but on romantic comedies that happened to occur on the holidays. I think that’s a good focus. Forcing the holiday theme where it doesn’t work isn’t necessary. I’d rather have a strong, relatable script.

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Hyde Park on Hudson is really kind of dull

Love apparently is something that existed even back in the 20th century, especially weird, off-putting, bizarre love. And also perhaps even between the highest British head of state and his arranged bride. But don’t let that confusing notion stop you from seeing this movie — the movie itself will do that.

So in Hyde Park on Hudson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (or FDR, played with aplomb by Bill Murray) was President when World War II erupted, and only a few months before it started the King and Queen (Samuel West and Olivia Colman) of the UK traveled to the US — the first time a British monarch had ever visited the country. The idea was to get support for the war everyone knew was coming, and the UK was concerned (rightfully so) that they’d be a target for Germany’s forces. Seems an interesting idea so far, even if the well-known 2010 movie The King’s Speech focuses on some of the aspects of King George VI in a much better film. But don’t forget! The real story here is a terrible love story between FDR and his distant cousin Margaret Stuckley (Laura Linney, sleepwalking her way through the entire movie).

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The Hobbit is an unexpectedly long journey to nowhere

Wow, has it really been nine years since The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was released? It really doesn’t seem that long, but it does seem like it’s been an eternity since the wheels started turning on production of The Hobbit, what with the rights feuds, a studio bankruptcy, and a director withdrawing even before the first frame was shot. But now it’s here, at least the first of three chapters, and the big question is: was it worth the wait?

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Help Dry Seasons see the (dusty, post-apocalyptic) light of day

The original Dark Shadows movies get some high-def love

With a resurgence in the popularity of Dark Shadows — thanks to a complete series DVD collection and in spite of Tim Burton’s less-than-warmly received feature film — the folks at Warner Brothers have decided to give the original Dark Shadows movies their due … on Blu-ray! Yes, we finally have gorgeous versions of House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows to fill the void that, for some, was created by the Burton version (which, for the record, I didn’t think was all that bad).

Of the two films, House of Dark Shadows is definitely the better one. Night of Dark Shadows may have its fans, but it certainly does not live up to the good will which carried over from the original series. Of course, the biggest problem is that the film was edited mercilessly before release, and all efforts to produce a restored director’s cut have apparently been scuttled mainly due to the poor condition of the existing audio tracks. Too bad because it would have been nice to see what director Dan Curtis had originally intended.

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The Straits is the Australian Sopranos

I’m torn about The Straits, hitting Hulu Plus this Saturday, December 15, from Australia’s ABC. The Straits surrounds an indigenous crime family located along the Australian side of the Torres Strait. Harry (Brian Cox) and Kitty lead the Montebello crime family. While Harry heads the family’s criminal enterprises, Kitty oversees her adopted children’s lives including Noel, the hot head; Marou, the straits bad boy gone straight; Sissi, the good girl turned bad; and Gary, the drug user.

Outside of Layer Cake and Snatch, I’m not a big fan of  mob hit shows like The Sopranos or Sons of Anarchy. When MI-5 went from a show about minimally paid British civil servants struggling to survive to a show featuring agents handling terrorist threats and undergoing torture, I stopped watching. When I felt overwhelmed by Criminal Minds‘ torture porn, I moved on. But, when Hulu noticed my obsession with international series like Spy, Party Animals and Kingdom, they let me know about The Straits.

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Matthews is no dummy: he knows Dexter’s secret

After my post last week about Dexter’s new path without his Dark Passenger, I went about reading comments here and on reddit about others’ thoughts on the subject. One thing that came up that makes a whole lot of sense: Matthews is fully aware of Dexter’s secret, and he’s going to use it to guarantee LaGuerta honors her side of the bargain … or, at least, that she’s out of the equation altogether.

Right now all Matthews wants is a bit of time to get the full pension he’d have gotten before LaGuerta took over his post. Now that he’s “helped” her out with her witch hunt on Dexter Morgan, he’s settled on assuming LaGuerta will honor their initial agreement, and he’ll be reinstated for a spell. Meanwhile, he’ll just go about letting everyone assume he’s completely in the dark about anything Dexter may or may not have done. However, should LaGuerta reneg on their agreement — and it certainly feels like that’s possible — I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Matthews pay Dexter a visit and give him the same “do what you do” speech that Deb did earlier this season.

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Machinima Interactive Film Festival: Not the best nor the brightest

One of the most ear-opening things I heard at the opening event of the Machinima Interactive Film Festival in Los Angeles recently was a little conversation with one of the muckity-mucks waiting in line ahead of me for refreshment. He casually stated:

“John Hughes is to movie making what The Beatles are to music.”

Now I don’t know about you, but a statement like that is packed with at least one of the following things: ignorance, blind love or bullshit. In this particular case, I believe it was a little bit of all three.

“Really?” I asked.

“Have you seen any John Hughes movies?” I was queried. Subconsciously, my eyes began rolling to the point I thought I might need eye drops for fear they might catch fire from all the friction.

I put on the most natural looking face I could muster and responded “Yes … I’ve seen a few of them.” (After all, one of my biggest crushes in filmdom was lent to Molly Ringwald, who was featured in more than a few Hughes classics.)

And so began one of the loudest, most gastronomically-challenged, chuckle-stifling, on-the-verge-of-sweating-to-death opening events I’ve been privy to be a part of in some time.

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Will Dexter have to face his greatest adversary: The truth?

Season 7 of Dexter hasn’t exactly fit the formula the previous seasons established for the show, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Despite its sometimes awkward pacing, this season has brought up a few major questions in the Dexter universe. How would Deb react if she found out the truth about Dexter? Is Dexter capable of love and sharing a future with someone? Will his “code” survive the loss of his Dark Passenger? And most importantly, what is happening with Quinn’s hair? Seriously, half the time he looks like he’s auditioning for the role of Kramer. I have a theory why Nadia left …

Up until now, the seasons of Dexter have followed their own “code.” There is an overarching “big bad” that Dexter discovers, investigates, and ultimately introduces to his table by the final episode. In some cases that formula has been underwhelming (I wasn’t a fan of the Jimmy Smits’ season), but others — like the season with John Lithgow’s Trinity — had me on the edge of my seat anticipating each week’s storyline. One of the benefits of this “code” of storytelling is that each week builds on the week before so that the screws are constantly being turned and the tension ramps up from beginning to end. This season, however, didn’t follow that paradigm but instead introduced mini antagonists for Dexter to deal with along the way, while hinting to the main opposition Dexter will have to face in this season’s finale. While I find it refreshing for the writers to shake up their style now that the series finale is set at the end of next season, I felt that by changing the overall structure of the season it drastically reduced the tension on Dexter and as a result there was no real sense of urgency this season.

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