CliqueClack

Somehow, I survived my childhood

Yes, folks: Somehow I survived my childhood.

Oh, look: So did everyone else who’s reading this.

Despite what my (sometime) friend and fellow compatriot Ivey might state ’round the hallowed halls of CliqueClack (something about the fact I continue to reside in the comfort, adventure and wide-eyed wonder of my youth), each and every one of us did things as kids we probably shouldn’t have done and played with toys we probably shouldn’t have been playing with. And, with the exception of Buckyballs, I have personal involvement with each and every item on the 10 Beloved Banned And Recalled Products. Additionally, as adults we have probably used (or continue to use) several. Am I right? So let’s get to it … shall we?

First off, however, I would like to note one particular thing going forward. It’s something millions of people have somehow either failed to take into consideration or have chosen to toss out the window, instead opting to fly by the seat of their pants. And that, my dear readers, is common sense. Remember I mentioned this while you continue on. I’ll bring it up here and there.

Onward …

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Win the Hawkins TV movie collection starring James Stewart

**This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering, and check back for more offers!

More than ten years before Andy Griffith became everyone’s favorite lawyer with a nose for snooping and sleuthing, James Stewart returned to the small screen a year after the short-lived The Jimmy Stewart Show as the crime solving Billy Jim Hawkins in a series of TV movies entitled Hawkins. The movies alternated throughout the 1973-1974 season with a series of Shaft TV movies. Hawkins solved crimes with his cousin RJ (Strother Martin), and the movies featured a host of guest stars including a very young Bonnie Bedelia, Cameron Mitchell, Julie Harris, William Windom, Lew Ayres, James Best, and Pernell Roberts. Now, the Warner Archive Collection is making all eight TV movies available in a 4-disk DVD set — available exclusively through the Warner Archives — and one lucky CliqueClack reader can win their very own copy!  All you have to do is leave a comment below (one per person, please) between 9:00 AM, Saturday, November 17 and 11:59 PM, Friday, November 23. We will pick a comment at random, and the winner will receive their DVD directly from the fine folks at the Warner Archives (US addresses only). So tell us why you’d like to win Hawkins on DVD. Good luck!

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The Walking Dead sets the stage for things to come

The word of the night on The Walking Dead’s episode “Say the Word” is transition. Well, technically I think it was “hello” when Rick broke his rage-filled silence to answer a ringing telephone, although I would also accept “Lil’ ass-kicker.”  This episode has garnered some criticism, but I think this is an example of a necessary evil when it comes to series storytelling.  For every amazing episode, like “Killer Within,” there needs to be transitional episodes to tie the story together while advancing the narrative.

Screenwriters use a system of “bombs and talk” to propel a storyline forward; detonating a story bomb to shake things up and allowing the characters time to react to that bomb through calmer, “talking” scenes. Last week’s episode was a bomb and this week’s was a talker, ironically of course, since the two characters doing the most reacting, Rick and Michonne, were relatively mute throughout.  Audiences need time to process those big dramatic moments of major plot points, so there needs to be inbetweener episodes that give the viewers a period of (relative) quiet to digest what came before and prepare for major dramatic episodes to come. This contrast of show pacing enhances the drama of the major plot points more than if the entire season were filled with non-stop action and conflict.

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Anna Karenina is cold and whirling but still furious with passion and sadness

Rich people sure have it tough, don’t they? They suffer from the very worst maladies known to humanity: ennui, boredom, jealousy of others’ even greater wealth, the list goes on. But perhaps that’s a bit too much — sometimes even the rich suffer from true pain.

Anna Karenina is the latest movie to attempt an adaptation of the classic novel by Leo Tolstoy, which tells the tale of love, intrigue, and politics among the Russian upper class during a chaotic historical period. Princess Anna (Keira Knightley, pairing up with director Joe Wright for the third time) is married with children to the older Count Alexei Karenin (Jude Law, made up to look frumpy), an important political figure. But when she visits her brother Stiva (Matthew Macfadyen) and his wife to deal with the aftermath of his adultery, she meets the handsome and charming cavalry officer Alexei Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson of the vastly different Kick-Ass), and is instantly connected, although she initially denies. At the same time, Vronsky is involved with Anna’s sister-in-law’s younger sister Princess Kitty (Alicia Vikander), who is also the attention of scruffy landowner Levin (Domhnall Gleeson).

Marginally complicated so far. But the movie stops rushing after a bit, and actually starts to take its time building these people, letting you get to know them (most of them, anyway) — so that, for example, Stiva becomes a constant source of humor and delight among all the seriousness and heartache. There is an intriguing element to the movie, in that it is presented in a very surreal manner (with varying degrees of “realism” throughout) partially taking place on an actual theater stage. I won’t spoil the specifics, but it does say something about the nature of the story and the characters in that it’s all about the audience and the “show” of it all.

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Silver Linings Playbook proves that sanity is overrated, but quirky romance isn’t

Finding connections is hard, but maintaining them is even more difficult. When you see yourself and your own problems reflected in someone else, friend or family, how do you react? With anger, sadness, denial, or self-reflection? Or love?

Silver Linings Playbook from director David O. Russell follows Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper), just released on probation from a mental institution and back living with his parents, as his wife doesn’t want to see him. His mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) worries about her potentially unstable son, who has “undiagnosed bipolar disorder” and her also potentially unstable husband (Robert De Niro), a gambler with possibly OCD levels of “needs” to win the sports games he bets on. But Pat just wants to see his wife again because he thinks they still love each other just like before, despite evidence to the contrary. When a friend and his wife invite him to dinner, he meets another damaged person — Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence. They both correctly suspect it’s a setup, which annoys Pat, because he’s already married, right?

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Lincoln is more of a political story than a biopic

It’s funny … the last film I reviewed was Flight, and I implied in the title of that review that the film likely wasn’t about what audiences thought it was going to be. In many ways, I had the same reaction after watching Lincoln. The film is not a life history of the nation’s 16^th President; in fact, the story largely stays within the final months of the Civil War. While the film does spend a great deal of time trying to explore Abraham Lincoln as a cinematic character, Lincoln the story is much more about the passage of the 13^th Amendment – at least in the House of Representatives.

Since the film is named Lincoln, I’ve got to start there; Daniel Day-Lewis was phenomenal. His was truly one of those performances where the actor disappears into the character. Day-Lewis plays the President as a great man with a great many burdens laid upon him. Independent of the fact that he is struggling to hold the country together with spit and baling wire, he had difficulties interacting with members of his family. His wife Mary struggled considerably with the deaths of their two sons Edward and William – though the latter’s was much more impactful in the timespan of the story. Lincoln’s eldest son Robert – Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a mostly wasted role — fought to join the military, despite the protestations of his father and the potential impact to Mary’s sanity. Day-Lewis’ Lincoln seems to physically carry each of these problems with him as he manages the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13^th Amendment. This President always has a smile and a story for the troops – one that often, if not always, seems to have little to do with the situation at hand – but is certainly a man whose time in office had a great impact on him physically and emotionally.

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A tribute to Arrow’s mega-hot men

Am I the only one who literally drooled during this week’s Arrow episode, “Legacies?” Between Diggle’s kickass arms and Oliver’s kickass abs, all I can say is Yum. It would be wrong if I didn’t take a minute to pay tribute to Arrow’s uber-hot men and the uber-hot actors who play them.

Stephen Amell/Oliver Queen

Stephen Amell plays the re-booted personality of Green Arrow to intense perfection. Physically, the boy has it going on! A DIAMOND could cut itself on his abs. Chuck Norris’, Ryan Reynolds’ and Ryan Gosling’s abs all collectively look at Stephen Amell’s abs and say “DAY-UMN! What are you twerking with?!”

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What could Twilight’s destiny be? – My Little Pony

Truth be told, I was a bit underwhelmed by the season premiere, “The Crystal Empire pt. 1 and 2.” There were aspects of it that were really nice (how Twilight ends up needing Spike’s support and is willing to fail her test in order to save the empire), but the parts with the other ponies trying to stall the ceremony felt like the writers couldn’t figure out much for them to do after Twilight goes off on her own. I’m also not sure why Princess Celestia told Twilight she had to do it on her own when in fact doing it on her own would have doomed everyone. Last year’s hour premiere just had a better overall story, a better resolution and a far better villain. This year’s King Sobra has little to no presence (he’s just generically evil with no real dialogue) while John de Lancie‘s Discord was a huge personality who had a very clear purpose for his wicked deeds. So while I’m glad the show is back, the episode left me lukewarm.

But the one big ear perk for me was towards the beginning of the episode — Princess Luna and Celestia are discussing what has to be done to save the Crystal Empire. Luna questions if Twilight Sparkle can do what needs to be done and Celestia assures her sister that Twilight “will succeed at her task. And when she does, we’ll know that she is that much closer to being ready.” So the question is … ready for what? Continue reading 'What could Twilight’s destiny be? — My Little Pony' »

Reasons why season 6 of True Blood will be hard to sink my teeth into

I realize HBO’s popular series True Blood has been straying further and further away from the popular Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris that inspired it, but the show’s recent announcements about next season have given me very little to look forward to. Like many other fans, I’m left with a bitter taste in my mouth after the lackluster Season 5, and I think Season 6 will be even more difficult to sink my teeth into. I can’t help but ask the question do the writers even care about continuing on anymore because it feels like they keep making one bizarre choice after another. Here are but a few of the reasons I think Season 6 might spell the end of the series soon:

Reason #1: Why do they keep creating new characters not from the books for us to follow so many zany plots?
While I’ll admit Rob Kazinsky is cute and will undoubtedly offer a sexy British accent, I don’t understand why his character was created at all, nor do I understand the creation of the mysterious Warlow. With such a rich tapestry of Harris characters to choose from, why do the show’s writers think they can best her with characters of their own creation? Many fans have long criticized the show for having too many characters and subplots to follow along with. I’ll admit it does get a bit confusing and a tad boring at times trying to keep up with everybody. Sure, everyone has their favorites and other characters they could do without. I’ve even heard of people fast-forwarding through certain characters’ storylines completely.

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Interviewing Haven’s bromantic duo – Lucas Bryant and Adam Copeland

Lucas Bryant and Adam Copeland might not be brothers, but they play them on TV. OK. Maybe Lucas’s curmudgeonly troubled cop, Nathan, and Adam’s curmudgeonly troubled fixer, Dwight, aren’t actual brothers on Haven, but they’re as close as brothers can get. Nathan and Dwight always have each others backs and always look out for each other. Heck, considering both wore matching well-worn leather jackets atop classic, well-loved white t-shirts, they came across as twins who dress the same way by default.  Eric Balfour jumping into the interview while Lucas answered one of my questions. The resulting Balfour-Bryant snog made the roundtable EVEN more bromantic.

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