Film Canon: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

     If you've seen the new banner I've uploaded, you'll notice a plethora of television series and movies.  They are quite simply my favorite films and shows of all time, those that have a special place in my heart and those that represent the best of the best in either medium.  I will be starting a Film Canon series on this blog that will feature particularly outstanding pieces of film or television that I highly recommend any student of these mediums to watch and appreciate.  The first featured film also happens to be my favorite film of all time: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by director Michel Gondry.

House of Cards - Episode 1.06 - "Chapter 6"

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     I don't know how it happens but it seems that whenever I complain about one aspect of House of Cards in a review, the problem is fixed in the next episode.  Such is the case with "Chapter 6", which sees Frank stumble for the first time since the series began.  Squaring off against teacher's union lobbyist Marty Spinella on CNN, he gets caught up in a bizarre vowel speech pattern after Spinella gets his wife involved in the debate.  This is one of the only moments when we see Frank in a vulnerable state, unsure of how to proceed.  This is a great moment on its own, the kind of moment I was hoping for, but upon reflection it doesn't make any logical sense.  We've seen at various points in every episode that Frank is a masterful improviser, a man who can quickly adapt to and dominate a conversation.  To see him idiotically stumble over his words seems out of character; the series never explicitly tells us why it happened.  Was it because Spinella got too personal?  In "Chapter 5" we saw how he reacted after Spinella forced Claire's gala out of the hotel so I guess we're supposed to believe that he will do anything to protect his wife and gets angry and flustered when she is threatened.  Regardless of character consistency, the moment is all but forgotten about (after the 24-hour news cycle gets ahold of it) and we are back to Frank dominating everyone and everything around him.  The episode is framed around a brick that gets thrown into Frank and Claire's window at their house.  The teachers strike is an ongoing event and Frank has been getting the blame for not compromising with the union so Frank goes to the media and places the blame on Spinelli and company.

House of Cards - Episode 1.05 - "Chapter 5"

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     This has turned into quite a ridiculous show.  That was my main thought as the credits rolled at the end of "Chapter 5", an episode that featured a comically early-2000's-style "chill" office, a group of protestors standing outside a fundraiser for the sole reason that there are Congressmen in attendance and an absurdly over-the-top teacher lobbyist who makes Rush Limbaugh look like Maya Angelou.  I'm conflicted as to how I should feel about each of these elements because the show seems to want us to take them all quite seriously while also reveling in its own preposterousness.  Thus far the show has masqueraded as the archetypal HBO drama with a morally ambiguous lead character and a sprawling cast that has numerous important conversations and conflicts with each other in small rooms.  There is a great show in here somewhere but too often it gets so caught up in its own web that it sacrifices logic and realism for stylish dramatic gravitas and "TV realism".  

House of Cards - Episode 1.04 - "Chapter 4"

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     I think I have to readjust my expectations for this show.  Thus far in the series we've seen the moral complexities of Frank, Claire, Zoe and Peter and how each of their lives is marred by self-interested ambition, regardless of those around them.  In "Chapter 4" we  see each of these characters continue to play their respective chess pieces in the game of Washington, D.C. despite some very evident cracks beginning to form for some.  Unfortunately we've already reached the well-trodden ground of extra-marital affairs for both Frank and Claire in the same episode.  Claire invites her photographer friend Adam to visit and the two get dinner and a hotel room.  Though she eventually hesitates and resists his affection, she clearly had strong feelings for this man at one time.  And why shouldn't she?  He's almost the exact opposite of Frank, a free-spirit photographer who isn't in the limelight.  Aside from this affair, we see her unhappiness in various forms.  When SanCorps tells her that they will double their donation to the Clear Water Initiative, she understands why (bargaining tool with Frank) but struggles with the knowledge that she must turn it down.  Later we discover that she is dealing with menopause; as she sticks her head into her refrigerator, her unhappiness is painful.  Painfully obvious, that is.  We've seen the long-suffering wife trope in countless critically-acclaimed cable dramas (The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Six Feet Under, etc.) so Claire's struggle isn't as sympathetic as it should be.  Robin Wright is a good actress who has the commanding presence of a strong, independent business woman but the material she's been given does not equal her talent.  

Survivor - Episode 26.05 - "Persona Non Grata"

courtesy of Monty Brinton/CBS

     I usually don't review episodes of reality television, but the latest episode of Survivor has brought up a discussion that needs to happen.  In its 26th season, Survivor has once again brought back returning players under the pretense of giving the public what they want.  It worked last season when they brought back three players who had been evacuated from the game for medical reasons to play against 15 new contestants, mostly because they were all genuine, complex individuals.  The editing allowed us to get to know every single contestant, and though some were given more air time than others (former child star Lisa Whelchel) there was the right combination of characters and true players.  When it was announced that they would bring back the Fans vs. Favorites concept, there was some excitement, given the popularity of the original Fans vs. Favorites.  However, when the cast was announced, it became clear that who the producers considered "Favorites" was a combination of outrageous personalities, under-edited strategists and a first boot.  Only one or two of them could genuinely be seen as favorites (Malcolm, maybe Cochran).  One of those outrageous personalities in this cast of "Favorites" was Brandon Hantz, the nephew of the show's most notorious villain, Russell Hantz.  In South Pacific, Brandon went through the emotional wringer, often often indicating that he was not right in the head.  And here he came back to go through the whole traumatizing experience again.  Let me make myself very clear, I know that viewers don't see everything that happens on that island.  However, with the footage we've received, it has become clear that Brandon Hantz is not well.  As a hardcore fan of Survivor it pains me to see one of my favorite shows of all time exploit psychological disorder for ratings.  

House of Cards - Episode 1.03 - "Chapter 3"

courtesy of Ken Thomas

     As House of Cards enters its third chapter, we finally get to travel outside of the wheelings and dealings of Washington politics to get some insight into Frank Underwood's roots in his home state of South Carolina.  In the process, we get to see what caused him to be elected to Congress 11 times, as he proudly declares in this episode.  More than anything else, Frank knows how to use his words to sucker people into doing anything he wants, even if that means delivering a eulogy he doesn't fully believe in.  Frank is called away to do some damage control after a 17-year-old girl gets into a fatal car accident after texting her boyfriend about the "Peachoid" (pictured above), which Frank paid an exorbitant amount of money to construct.  Though his colleagues try to persuade him to stay and work on the education reform bill, his image and worth as a Congressman are more important.  What I found interesting about this whole episode was the motivations behind Frank's behavior.  He doesn't go down to South Carolina to express grief over the loss of a young girl, he goes down after a local politician blames Frank's "Peachoid" for the girl's death.  Frank is primarily looking to make the problem go away with a settlement by offering a scholarship to be made in the girl's name.  Through meetings with locals, a eulogy at a church and a talk with the girl's parents, his rhetoric is almost mechanically sympathetic, designed to tap into the emotions of who Frank regards as easily persuaded, simple-minded folk.  He is a master at speechifying and Kevin Spacey probably delivers his most nuanced performance yet.  You almost want to believe there's a decent man underneath all the rhetorical bullshit and the selfish ambition, but his asides to the camera indicate a man whose been in this business for so long that he may have lost his capacity to connect to the common folk.

House of Cards - Episode 1.02 - "Chapter 2"

                                                                                          Patrick Harbron/Netflix

     Though I very much enjoyed the Pilot episode of Netflix's original series House of Cards, I wasn't initially sure if it could reach the HBO-level of high-quality drama it was so clearly striving for.  Unfortunately, this second "Chapter" was on such a similar plane as the first that I'm still up in the air about it.  I'm beginning to realize that these episodes aren't necessarily meant to be wholly satisfying as their own 50-minute stories; rather, they are genuinely intended for the ever-increasing trend of binge-viewing.  None of the thirteen episodes have unique names, they are simply assigned a "Chapter" number, which indicates that they are meant to be consumed like a novel.  And this is the beginning of the story.  Rarely do we find the first two chapters the most exciting ones; the author is busy setting up the rules of the world they've created.  Such is the case with these first two episodes, which find Frank Underwood masterfully manipulating his surroundings with remarkable ease.