A couple of things on the entertainment front
Cowboys & Aliens
This was the only summer movie I was even remotely looking forward to (and it's only the second one I've seen--the other was the latest Transformers, which was done less because we wanted to see it than because going to a Michael Bay film with a flask and an MST3K mindset on July 4 makes a great distraction from fireworks issues). And sadly, it lived down to the expectations, even though I'd hoped for better. Most of the reviews have nailed it: it's a group of talented people working hard on a terrible script. It's not stupid or empty-headed or lazy. But the script lacks any sense of humor or rhythm and has no real viewpoint beyond "aliens show up in the frontier West and stuff happens." And I have to lay some of the blame for this at Jon Favreau's feet; while I appreciate how thoughtful and careful he can be as a director (it's largely due to him that the movie isn't stupid or empty-headed or lazy), I think that also often constrains him from making choices that could be risky but could also open up the boundaries of a script that isn't necessarily very good. In looking back at Iron Man 2, I see some similar issues, so I think it's part of how he works.
I am not as happy with Daniel Craig as I wanted to be. I mean, the only thing I really asked of the movie was to watch him in cowboy gear for a couple of hours, and I got that; he's gorgeous in a sophisticate-meets-street-brawler sort of way (even when, maybe especially when, he gets the crap beat out of him), and he sits a horse beautifully. But it's a one-note performance. I think he was going for some of Eastwood's Man With No Name vibe, but he overplayed it and didn't give enough shading to the struggle of a man who can't remember anything but can't let other people know that. I know he's capable of better and I'm sad he didn't do it here.
Everybody else, though? Excellent. I haven't seen Harrison Ford put this much of himself into a performance in years, and it's a lovely thing to see. Olivia Wilde doesn't fall into any of the stereotypes her character could have had and probably works harder than anybody else to make something good, and smart, of the bad script. Sam Rockwell is notable primarily for taking a role where his tendency to overblown quirks could have been justified and playing it totally straight, which is something of a relief. Clancy Brown as a preacher is kind of hilarious on a meta-level but it's a good, anchoring performance. Adam Beach is just fantastic, with the kind of unspoken emotion and complexity that's missing from Craig's performance, which makes the fact that his character is subject to a particularly disappointing trope (especially since its use is to further Harrison Ford's character) all the worse; enough care was given to the Native American characters in general that this particular thing really rankles for me, even as I see why the choice was made from a storyline aspect. Paul Dano is suitably trollish, Keith Carradine is dignified and perfectly Western in mien, Ana de la Riguera and Noah Ringer do well with their lightly-sketched characters, and Raoul Trujillo brings a great deal of authority and depth to a character that could have been a minefield, even as I feel like a lot of the stuff with the Apache is still kind of clumsy.
The effects are nice. The aliens are appropriately icky though not especially original. The cinematography is pretty. That all kind of falls under "damning with faint praise," though.
All in all, I didn't hate it. But I didn't really like it, either. I mostly wish it was a lot better. There's a lot of promise in this idea, a lot of interesting sociology and meta that could have come out of the notion of a truly alien presence in a frontier society, but the whole idea just sort of lies there uselessly.
Torchwood: Miracle Day
Yes, I did state at one point that I didn't want to watch anything RTD did ever again. I changed my mind, primarily because the ads for this made clear that he was going to follow through on the promise he'd always invested in Gwen and finally brought to fruition in Children of Earth.
The good stuff: I like the fairly sophisticated and nerdy focus on the problems of health-care policy presented by the setup. Eve Myles is hands-down wonderful, as is Kai Owen (when we get to see him), and I am deeply appreciative of how their relationship has been drawn for this series. John Barrowman is more subtle than usual, and doing a better job than in the past of communicating Jack's fundamental existential grief. The doctor is excellent, and I'm warming to Esther (who is the audience stand-in this time instead of Gwen). I appreciate Bill Pullman's restraint in not going for full-on odiousness. Some of the casting has been terribly entertaining.
The bad stuff: I still want to punch Mekhi Phifer's character in the head; his growth has been slow and aggravating. Rusty is all too obviously wallowing in the opportunities for grossness and shock that being on U.S. cable has provided him; there's at least one moment in every episode where we go "Was that REALLY necessary?" Not enough Kai Owen (at least so far, the preview for the next episode seemed to hint that might change). And most of all, it feels far too American and hardly at all Torchwood. I know that this was by design, to sell it to an American channel, but...as someone who knows the background and has a sort of grudging affection for the first two series, even with their delirious flaws, and many of the characters, it's not a tradeoff I like. Something fundmental has been lost.
I'm not hating it and I'm interested to see where the story is going to go. When it comes down to it, though, I'm not very invested in it.
This was the only summer movie I was even remotely looking forward to (and it's only the second one I've seen--the other was the latest Transformers, which was done less because we wanted to see it than because going to a Michael Bay film with a flask and an MST3K mindset on July 4 makes a great distraction from fireworks issues). And sadly, it lived down to the expectations, even though I'd hoped for better. Most of the reviews have nailed it: it's a group of talented people working hard on a terrible script. It's not stupid or empty-headed or lazy. But the script lacks any sense of humor or rhythm and has no real viewpoint beyond "aliens show up in the frontier West and stuff happens." And I have to lay some of the blame for this at Jon Favreau's feet; while I appreciate how thoughtful and careful he can be as a director (it's largely due to him that the movie isn't stupid or empty-headed or lazy), I think that also often constrains him from making choices that could be risky but could also open up the boundaries of a script that isn't necessarily very good. In looking back at Iron Man 2, I see some similar issues, so I think it's part of how he works.
I am not as happy with Daniel Craig as I wanted to be. I mean, the only thing I really asked of the movie was to watch him in cowboy gear for a couple of hours, and I got that; he's gorgeous in a sophisticate-meets-street-brawler sort of way (even when, maybe especially when, he gets the crap beat out of him), and he sits a horse beautifully. But it's a one-note performance. I think he was going for some of Eastwood's Man With No Name vibe, but he overplayed it and didn't give enough shading to the struggle of a man who can't remember anything but can't let other people know that. I know he's capable of better and I'm sad he didn't do it here.
Everybody else, though? Excellent. I haven't seen Harrison Ford put this much of himself into a performance in years, and it's a lovely thing to see. Olivia Wilde doesn't fall into any of the stereotypes her character could have had and probably works harder than anybody else to make something good, and smart, of the bad script. Sam Rockwell is notable primarily for taking a role where his tendency to overblown quirks could have been justified and playing it totally straight, which is something of a relief. Clancy Brown as a preacher is kind of hilarious on a meta-level but it's a good, anchoring performance. Adam Beach is just fantastic, with the kind of unspoken emotion and complexity that's missing from Craig's performance, which makes the fact that his character is subject to a particularly disappointing trope (especially since its use is to further Harrison Ford's character) all the worse; enough care was given to the Native American characters in general that this particular thing really rankles for me, even as I see why the choice was made from a storyline aspect. Paul Dano is suitably trollish, Keith Carradine is dignified and perfectly Western in mien, Ana de la Riguera and Noah Ringer do well with their lightly-sketched characters, and Raoul Trujillo brings a great deal of authority and depth to a character that could have been a minefield, even as I feel like a lot of the stuff with the Apache is still kind of clumsy.
The effects are nice. The aliens are appropriately icky though not especially original. The cinematography is pretty. That all kind of falls under "damning with faint praise," though.
All in all, I didn't hate it. But I didn't really like it, either. I mostly wish it was a lot better. There's a lot of promise in this idea, a lot of interesting sociology and meta that could have come out of the notion of a truly alien presence in a frontier society, but the whole idea just sort of lies there uselessly.
Torchwood: Miracle Day
Yes, I did state at one point that I didn't want to watch anything RTD did ever again. I changed my mind, primarily because the ads for this made clear that he was going to follow through on the promise he'd always invested in Gwen and finally brought to fruition in Children of Earth.
The good stuff: I like the fairly sophisticated and nerdy focus on the problems of health-care policy presented by the setup. Eve Myles is hands-down wonderful, as is Kai Owen (when we get to see him), and I am deeply appreciative of how their relationship has been drawn for this series. John Barrowman is more subtle than usual, and doing a better job than in the past of communicating Jack's fundamental existential grief. The doctor is excellent, and I'm warming to Esther (who is the audience stand-in this time instead of Gwen). I appreciate Bill Pullman's restraint in not going for full-on odiousness. Some of the casting has been terribly entertaining.
The bad stuff: I still want to punch Mekhi Phifer's character in the head; his growth has been slow and aggravating. Rusty is all too obviously wallowing in the opportunities for grossness and shock that being on U.S. cable has provided him; there's at least one moment in every episode where we go "Was that REALLY necessary?" Not enough Kai Owen (at least so far, the preview for the next episode seemed to hint that might change). And most of all, it feels far too American and hardly at all Torchwood. I know that this was by design, to sell it to an American channel, but...as someone who knows the background and has a sort of grudging affection for the first two series, even with their delirious flaws, and many of the characters, it's not a tradeoff I like. Something fundmental has been lost.
I'm not hating it and I'm interested to see where the story is going to go. When it comes down to it, though, I'm not very invested in it.