MARCH 23, 2013

GENRE: TELEVISION
SOURCE: CABLE (A&E HD)

Folks are always asking for me to give the HMAD treatment to one genre show or another, so I thought I'd offer up a few thoughts on the pilot to Bates Motel, which premiered a few days ago. It's executive produced by Carlton Cuse, who was one of the guys behind Lost, but this time we know he can't fuck up the ending, because Bates is a prequel show, focusing on Norman's teen years when his mother Norma was still alive, and when the episode begins they haven't even bought the motel that would become such an iconic presence in the horror genre. So Cuse can't do this to us again!

OR CAN HE? Not 30 seconds into the show we see an HDTV in the background, and a few other modern touches that let us know that this is the present day, and thus it can NOT be a canon "prequel" in any traditional sense - surely Norman would have a lot more trouble picking off victims when they had GPS and cell phones at their disposal at all times. And that's something that excites me; I saw some folks complaining about the fact that it wasn't directly in line with the movies, but (Cuse's track record notwithstanding) this means that the show can surprise us, not to mention conceivably go on forever if the ratings are good enough. I saw someone joke that the series finale would be Marion arriving at the motel, but this is actually a remake that's just using an earlier start point. I hate to use it as an example of anything, but it's more like Rob Zombie's Halloween where we got to see young Michael in the asylum for a while - it's presenting a new angle and building its own mythology, albeit hopefully it's more successful than Mr. Zombie was in terms of quality.

And while some may cry foul, I truly hope it DOESN'T follow the established story to the letter, and opts for something more akin to what Walking Dead is doing with regards to the source comic. It's hitting all the beats (prison, Governor, etc) but changing pretty much every detail (Sophia is still alive in the comic, for example), something that so far Bates doesn't seem to be doing (except for the time period) but doesn't mean it CAN'T. We haven't seen him yet, but Norman has a brother that I'm pretty sure was never mentioned in the movies, and if you compare to Psycho IV, which also had Norman as a teen, we can see that the two versions of the characters are different enough to let this be its own thing.

But on to what's important, especially since I'm sure some viewers have never seen the movies - is it any good? So far, yes. For starters, Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates is terrific casting; she's one of the most beautiful women in the world as far as I'm concerned, but she's also a terrific actress who excels at playing tough women you don't want to cross (see: Running Scared). Psycho IV explored a slightly incestuous angle, with Norman getting aroused when wrestling with her - if they decide to go that route here, we can enjoy the uncomfortable situation of not understanding why a guy would be attracted to his mom but having zero problem understanding why he'd be attracted to Vera Farmiga, letting us be just as confused as Norman. I mean, I'm sure at SOME POINT Norman's going to kill someone, but as of now he's just a confused kid that we root for as our hero (again, assuming someone's watching having never heard of Psycho - there's nothing to tip us off that he's a "villain", at least in this episode).

Norman himself is pretty great too; Freddy Highmore may be best known for the Tim Burton Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, but this can be his defining role if the show lasts. He's got a fascinating voice; it sounds like a mix between a normal kid's and an old man, and almost kind of pained when he's angry or upset. I don't know if it's just an odd side effect of hiding his accent (he's British) or an intentional choice, but I love it either way. It's like a great little tic that helps separate him from Perkins (and, goes without saying, Vaughn), and it didn't dawn on me until later but it's interesting that the other actor who played Norman as a teen - Henry Thomas - was also best known from a kid's movie when he was much younger, and now they've been out of the spotlight for a bit and back as an older teen. I'm always happy to see child actors keep working but also seemingly avoid being batshit insane like some others (ahem, Lohan), and it's just funny to see two of them have now played Norman goddamn Bates.

The new stuff works, too. They waste little time setting up a villain - the house/motel's previous owner, played by W. Earl Brown. He's not too happy about losing his family home to the Bates (via a bank foreclosure), and I hope you don't get too attached to him since he ends up dead by the episode's end. But I'm guessing either his family or the police will be very interested in knowing what happened to him and provide a long-running antagonist for our anti-heroes. There's also a schoolteacher who takes an interest in Norman, something that I'm sure will upset Mother as time goes on as she seems to hate the idea of Norman spending time with anyone except her. And the brother will be an issue I'm sure; we only hear him over a phone where we learn he's a deadbeat and that Mother doesn't want him around, but the actor is listed in the main credits so I'm sure he won't be absent for long.

A couple of things bugged me though, such as the cutesy names - characters named Carpenter and Romero? Come on guys, this is hack humor that belongs in a DTV zom-com, not in a serious show. There's also a rape scene that feels arbitrary and way too out of nowhere; it's the 2nd time we've seen the character and there's no hesitation on his part, even though he was not established as anything but an asshole. There ARE ways of getting us to a. instantly hate a male character and b. establish sympathy for a somewhat overbearing female character without resorting to rape - it comes off as cartoonish, almost. The pilot for Lost is one of the greatest achievements in serialized TV ever, as far as I'm concerned - I expected something a little less cliche and meaty from Cuse. There's also a quick bit at the end that I didn't know what to make of other than "Oh, they saw American Horror Story too!" - I hope it's explained next week as it was completely misplaced.

Otherwise, I'm on board. I can watch Vera read a phone book, so having her as Norma (and an equal presence to Norman's - she's not used sparingly, thank Christ) will keep me around as long as she is, at least. Plus Fringe is gone, so I need a new genre show to fill the hole. Oh wait, Hannibal! Well, in 10 days I'll have a little more free time :).

What say you?

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MARCH 14, 2013

GENRE: SUPERNATURAL
SOURCE: STREAMING (NETFLIX INSTANT)

I was only about 7 seconds into The Spell when I knew it wasn't going to be a very successful attempt at ripping off Carrie. Rita, our tormented, potentially telekinetic girl, is being mocked for being fat by all of her classmates as they make their way to gym class. And I mean ALL - not a single one of the other girls seems to have anything better to do than laugh and point, do the exaggerated, arms outstretched "fat person walking" shtick, etc. But here's the thing - Rita's not going to be on America's Next Top Model anytime soon, but she's not actually "fat" at all - she's maybe packing 5 extra lbs above what is a normal, healthy weight for a girl her height.

So right off the bat I had trouble buying into the movie; Carrie's tormentors may have been a bit ridiculous, but I never doubted that she'd be a target of their scorn - she was awkward, made to look plain, etc. Here, I couldn't understand why they'd even notice her at all, let alone pick on her weight. Sorry for the lack of tact, but couldn't they find an actual fat actress to play the part, so the audience would at least be able to quickly understand what was going on? Honestly, when I saw the girls all doing the fat jokes I wondered when the girl would appear on-screen, because I figured Rita was just some random extra.

Luckily, this stuff doesn't carry through the entire movie. Perhaps to avoid being labeled a complete Carrie knockoff, the school never appears again after this opening sequence (which ends with a gymnastics "accident"), and we instead focus on her family life. She doesn't get along with her younger sister (Helen Hunt!) or father at all, and her relationship with her mom (Lee Grant) is heated, though the closest thing she has to an ally there. But she brings it on herself; whereas Carrie was sympathetic, Rita's just a mean brat, and the targets for the rest of the movie are of no interest to us (assorted friends/business associates of her parents, though she seemingly tries to drown her sister at one point), making it hard to care much about what's going on. I can root for Grant, torn between the love for her child and the knowledge that something is seriously wrong with her, but it's nowhere near as effective as something like We Need To Talk About Kevin or Joshua.

Plus, apart from that brief drowning scene, the family is never in any danger, so there's nothing to really get scared over. It'd be easy to say "Eh, it's a TV movie, they can't really do much", but Don't Go To Sleep scared the hell out of me and didn't shy away from being vicious when it had to be - this just lacks the balls to go all out, opting to just kill some random adult we have no attachment to in order to provide the movie with its action. And they go a step further (spoiler), revealing during the climax that Rita's actually just a pawn for her gym teacher, who also has this ability and wants her to hone her skills. This leads to not one but TWO showdowns of people mumbling chants at each other, which I assure you doesn't come across as cinematic or riveting as it sounds. Even as a TV movie this thing is shockingly dull throughout, and I thought they were just saving the FX/action budget for the finale, but no.

Oddly this is the 2nd made for TV Carrie wannabe that was written by someone who'd go on to make something far more interesting and beloved. Tom Holland co-wrote The Initiation Of Sarah long before he'd join the ranks of the Masters of Horror with Child's Play and Fright Night, and this was written by Brian Taggert, who would go on to adapt Of Unknown Origin (the original novel of which I just got! Can't wait to read), aka the 2nd best Peter Weller movie ever and certainly the best killer rat one. But it's interesting that it was based on a novel, as just about everything else I've seen from him (Poltergeist III, Omen IV, Visiting Hours (which also had Lee Grant)) was underwhelming at best, so maybe he's just not a very good writer unless he has a guide to work from, as all of those others (and this) weren't based on existing books or whatever.

In closing, I'd like to say that if I was around in the 60s-70s, I probably would have had a crush on Lee Grant. She's in her 50s here but still very attractive, and she's got that mix of being a classy lady but with a fiery attitude, not unlike Helen Mirren. We need more women like them in our generation! Most of what we have are dolts like Lohan or manic pixie dream girls. Mirren and Grant could still kick all their asses while drinking their tea.

What say you?

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