Posts Tagged ‘American Idol’
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I’m pretty happy with today’s comic – unusual for a Monday. It’s fun because I get to take pot shots at two of my favorite targets – The Wynnsong 16 theaters and those American Idol jokers. Meh. They’ll be off the cultural radar soon enough.
I had a very odd movie-watching experience this weekend. On Saturday night, Cami and I went to see the documentary Spellbound at a local arthouse. It’s about 8 kids all about middle-school age competing in the 1999 National Spelling Bee.
The film was interesting on several levels. One, it made evident what a horrible speller I am. Two, it cast its light on a subject that is uniquely American, but what very few people know of. And three, the level of talent in this contest cuts through class, race and social standing making it one of the most true representations of middle America in recent memory. I liked it a lot.
If you’d like to read a more developed line of thought about the movie, be sure to check out the reviews page. My good friend Nick Caster typed up a few words on the film I know you will enjoy. I’ve been sitting on his review for a little while now, so hopefully he won’t mind.
On the other side of the movie-going coin, I caught a matinee of The Hulk this afternoon. I hated it. A lot. I won’t bother going into it here, because I’ve also recently written up a review – which visitors to the site know only happens when I’ve had a very vicreal reaction to something.
I don’t know how my words are going to be received since there was a lot of build-up on my part to see and enjoy this movie. I don’t want to sound hypocritical. But where the movie falls, it falls hard and I had a difficult time even enjoying it.
If you have thoughts, please share them in the forum.
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I kind of painted myself into a corner with today’s comic because, originally, the set up required there to be some kind of massive upset at last night’s Academy Awards ceremony. The only problem, there were no real upsets! Pretty much everyone who was supposed to win, did. There weren’t really any awards handed out that I was upset with. I didn’t finish watching the show thinking anyone was snubbed or robbed. So I had to reconfigure the point I was making a little bit, but I think it comes off well.
Discussing today’s comic with Cami, I actually hit up a little mini-arc that addresses some of the politics behind the Oscar voting as well as attempt reveal some truth about persona biases.
That sounds pretty lofty. It’s not high-concept, or anything. I’m just trying to give you the head’s up that there will be a mini-arc this week. So if that gives you an excuse to come back to the site on Wednesday and Friday, feel free to use it.
Thinking back on last night’s show, the only real upset I can recall is French actress Marion Cotillard winng her first Academy Award for her portrayal of singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. Then again, Best Actress is always a crap shoot anyway. And – not to be xenophobic – the award hardly ever goes to an American actress, so I just kind of ignore it.
I was pleased beyond reason that “Falling Slowly” from Once won Best Original Song. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s performance made me want to stop what I was doing and watch Once all over again – easily my favorite movie last year.
Beyond that, nothing much to get excited about. Certainly it was obvious that there weren’t any huge blockbusters or A-level celebritires like Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts being celebrated. I’ll be curious to read about the ratings sometime today.
But when your Best Picture nominees include downers like There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men, it’s likely to ostrisize the casual movie goer. Maybe that’s a good thing? More left over for the die-hard fans?
We discussed these issues and more on a special Sunday night recording of The Triple Feature over at TalkShoe. Gordon, Joe and I hopped on the line immediately after the Oscar telecast wrapped up and we shared our immediate impressions. You should really think about downloading a copy of the show. We kept it brief – 30 minutes since we recorded on a day we don’t typically record. It’s a good introduction to what we do. If you have a chance, give us a listen!
That said, we still have ANOTHER broadcast going on this evening. The three of us will be talking about NEW movies tonight including Be Kind, Rewind, Vantage Point and the recent multiple cast announcements for the upcoming Wolverine: Origins.
So be sure to tune in tonight at 9:00 PM CST for another episode of The Triple Feature! See you there!
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This comic stems from another one of our conversations on The Triple Feature this Monday. It’s largely a rant that I tied off with a punchline here, but went unchecked during the recording of the podcast.
I’m greatly annoyed by the remake of Fame. Not because I’m a fan of the 1980 original or even the lousy TV spin off that spawned from its success. As a matter of fact, I hate the movie Fame and pretty much cite it as the flash point of a generation deluded into thinking that they were amazing singers/dancers/actors just waiting to be discovered.
More and more, the culture seems to advocate fame and popularity by birthright rather than by hard work and talent. I don’t know if it is a uniquely American expectation or not, but I’ve noticed an upswing in the last few years. People seem to fall ass-backwords in to fame with increasing regularity. Blame YouTube, I guess.
With that in mind, will a remake of Fame even resonate with today’s audiences? Is having talent and a work ethic even attractive to a culture that is willing to accept humiliation on national television if it means they get their 15 minutes of infamy?
You can stand in line for 18 hours to sing for Simon Cowell. If you’re good enough, you might get to go to Hollywood. But even if you’re a piss-poor singer, maybe they’ll throw you onto the highlight reel of all the dismal failures so America can have a good laugh at your expense. So what, right? As long as someone is paying attention. William Hung took that lack of self-awareness all the way to the bank.
One could argue that this comic is its own desperate plea for attention. I would be hard pressed to argue with them. Am I proud of the success I’ve found with Theater Hopper? Of course. Could I do with a little more exposure? Well, sure. I mean, who wouldn’t want that? So I’m just as guilty as everyone else.
But then, I’m not exactly the audience this remake of Fame is shooting for.
So if you’re a teenage girl with aspirations to become a great singer, are you going to watch a movie like Fame that promotes the concept of hard work and sacrifice or are you going to tune in to American Idol three times a week an nurture the fantasy that maybe you too can be America’s most popular karaoke singer?
Food for thought, I guess.
What about the rest of you? Any aspirations to see Fame this weekend? Are you a fan of the original movie?Do you think a remake can possibly bring anything new to the table? Leave your comments below!
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