Music, a Life Saver

Most people have a band, artist or musician that makes music so in tune with you that sometimes it can explain better than yourself what you are feeling.

For me, this person is Brandi Carlile. Her ability to put all her feelings into the way she sings, made me fall in love with her music. So here I share one of her songs that has become a very personal and important song in my life.

So enjoy and tell me what you think!

The Future of Grey's Anatomy

Title: Grey's Anatomy.

Creator: Shonda Rhimes.

Cast: Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, Chandra Wilson. 

Year: 2005 - Present. 

Let me start this post by saying that I have been a fan of Grey’s Anatomy since the day it first aired. I was fortunate enough to watch the pilot and since that day I have been following the series religiously. So as a kind-of obsessive fan, I have been following the behind-the-scenes drama closely enough to write about what, I think, is happening.

So here is the breakdown: as the series became successful, Ellen Pompeo (Meredith), Patrick Dempsey (Derek), Sandra Oh (Christina), and Justin Chambers (Alex) were approached –other people signed too, but for different reasons they rescinded their contract- to sign a contract that bind them to shoot eight seasons, hoping that the series would remain strong until then. And it did.   

So, as Grey’s entered the eighth season, rumors and speculations began to appear. First, Ellen said she hadn’t been approached for a renewal of her contract. Then, Patrick Dempsey declared it was probably “it” for him – though he later said his words were taken out of context. The issue stands in whether the original cast would be willing to extend their stay, and that got a lot of fans worried.

In the midst of all these rumors, the press reached the creator of the series Shonda Rhimes and asked what the deal was. She said that the series would almost certainly continue, with or without the original cast. But she said that for the first time, and because of the uncertain future, she didn’t have the ending of the season mapped out like she always did. And as such, the season began.

During the early stages of the season, she added that it wasn’t in her hands to deal a new contract with her actors; it all depended on what ABC wanted to do. This, of course, unleashed a new wave of worry among the fans. Months of uncertainty passed and finally a couple of weeks ago the ABC TCA tour press happened– this tour consists in presidents of networks talking about what is happening with their TV shows-. In this tour ABC’s president, Paul Lee confirmed the series would go on with or without renewed contracts. He even said he had faith the show would run for 10 more years.

And that got me thinking. Although I love my Thursday’s Grey’s night I am not sure if the series should go on for much longer. It is not the storylines or the introduction of new characters that worries me. We’ve had some of the best characters –like my all time favorite: Arizona Robbins- and arcs in later seasons. The problem I see is that the network seems to think that this is the kind of ensemble show in which you just trade characters and it will be okay. Grey’s is a show driven by its unique characters, and as such you have invested time and committed to get to know them.

There are just so many stories you can tell without them losing quality and I do believe some of those characters have reached that point, especially Meredith and Derek. It’s been on TV for almost a decade and it’s starting to show its age. I believe it can end on a high note and be remembered as a classic, ground-breaking series.

Sure, we’ll have many awesome old characters left, but replacing the main cast is not a good idea. Series like Scrubs, That 70’s Show, The OC and ER –as I said- have done it and none of them have had much success. They are proof that it’s silly to replace the characters your audience has created an emotional bond with and putting an inferior replacement in their place. And although all these series are remembered fondly, they still have that stain that could’ve been easily avoided.

As a fan, I really wish I am wrong and I also wish that Shonda Rhimes finds a way to make the show strive after this crisis. But, how much is too much? The series is starting to show signs of age. I understand that TV is a business and that this series still earns profit for the network. And as such, it is very sad to see that they are willing to compromise the integrity of a great story for that. It just shows how television still has a lot of growing up to do. 

We Need to Talk About Kevin: When Is Evil Born?

Title: We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Director: Lynne Ramsay.

Cast: Tilda Swinton, John. C Reilly and Ezra Miller.

Country: UK, USA.

Year: 2011

In a society were violence can sometimes be glorified and sometimes hated, it is only natural that art will try to explore and explain its essence. We have seen it countless times in many different forms, movies being the pioneers in making violence visual. “We Need to Talk About Kevin“ could easily be included as a movie that tries to seek what moves a person to be so intensely driven towards violence.

Originally a book, “We Need to Talk About Kevin“ tells the story of Eva (Tilda Swinton), a woman that gets pregnant with her firstborn, Kevin (played in his teenage years by Ezra Miller). As a child, Kevin begins to display strange and violent behavior that grows exponentially until it gets out of control.

Tilda Swinton owns the movie; her portrayal of a reluctant mother is spot on and she manages to say more with her body language than with her words. Ezra Miller manages to do a good job, with what I felt was a clichéd character. But the casting of Kevin at different ages was impressive. John. C Reilly was underused with a very lukewarm character, for once he remained in the shadows instead of being a scene-stealer.

As I already established, violence is the main theme in the movie and yet there is never a moment where we see a violent act explicitly. Still, the film manages to create the uncomfortable curiosity of watching something you are afraid of. The raw cinematic language Ramsay uses accomplishes this, specifically the color scheme. The color red is essentially another character in this movie; it is the blood we never get to see, the life in Eva. To contrast with Eva we have blue, it’s Kevin’s color, cold and serious. These two clash visually, as do mother and son.

The problems start with the constant change of pacing in the movie. First, we get snippets, fast cuts and a lot of movement, like pieces of a puzzle you have to put together as member of the audience. Then, this is lost to a more traditional flashback/flash-forward movie. It made me disengage emotionally at some point in the middle.

Even though it has a very promising start, at then end it becomes a very flat movie. There is not a theme; things happen, but they don’t have a real base or reason. The author tries to take on a very large subject leaving some of the most interesting parts missing entirely. We lose the interesting stuff – a mother dealing with the evilness of her own flesh- to the already seen stuff – a kid making life hell to his mom-.

All of the hectic and impressive build-up falls into a predictable ending with no real purpose. It seems to me that they used the easy way to show this face of violence and it is disappointing.

So, what is this movie trying to tell me? That evil can be born in a healthy environment? That some human beings are biologically flawed? Or that there are some things that, simply, we will never understand? 

The Hunger Games Trailer Ya'll

So everyone who knows me also know how excited I'm about The Hunger Games movie. So, as a good promoter of the things I nerd about, I leave you all with the trailer of the movie. Oh, by the way Katniss is my bestie, she told me so ;)

J. Edgar: A Man in History

Title: J. Edgar.

Director: Clint Eastwood.

Actors: Leonardo Di Caprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench.

Country: United States.

Year: 2011.

Clint Eastwood returns to the director’s chair with a story that, once again, is character driven. After his last few films I was very excited to watch this one.  Generally, Eastwood’s films are a guarantee, but this time the movie falls short, becoming one of his least strong stories.

“J.Edgar” tells the story of John Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) who was the head of the FBI for more than four decades mid-twentieth century. It focuses on his flawed character and the personal perspective of what his post meant. Also, the way he thought, they way he saw life, and the relationship’s that marked his life.

The movie’s strength comes from the powerful performances of the main cast, especially Leonardo DiCaprio. Once again, he succeeds in becoming this character rather than just portraying him. He uses his physical portrayal –things like his constant pacing- to make the viewer think he is trying to control his real and dark emotions.

He is supported by a strong group of actors starting with Naomi Watts, who acts as Hoover’s faithful and motherly secretary. Judi Dench plays an overbearing mother with tremendous power over her son. Armie Hammer, who delivers the strongest supporting performance, plays Clyde Tolson, the right hand and supposed lover of Hoover, with a mixture of mystery and charm.

The acting direction is the highlight of the picture. Clint Eastwood has a talent to make each performance, however small, memorable. These are enhanced by the cinematography and lighting, which in traditional Eastwood style, use a lot of shadows and opaque, dark colors. The colors accentuate the darkness of the world the audience is visiting. The shadows help create a certain aura of mystery to the characters, suggesting that history will never tell us who these people really were.

So, where does the movie stumble? In its form. The content of the movie is good, however the pacing and constant time jumps make it lose impact. When you start feeling a connection with the story, we are suddenly forced out of it and it ends up feeling disjointed and slow.

The other thing that makes the movie fall is the terrible make up. It just looks fake and it is completely distracting. It wouldn’t matter so much if only a small part of the movie was using this resource, but it isn’t, and it takes a lot of power from the most emotional scenes.

J. Edgar is one of Clint Eastwood’s weakest movies. The content is all there, but the way the story is told makes it fall. It is slow and sometimes confusing, which made me lose interest quickly. Despite all of this, Leonardo DiCaprio gives another award worthy performance, as usual. So despite great performances, J.Edgar fails to be as captivating as it strived to be.

Now in English

So, after thinking a bit and getting some advice, I decided to start writing the blog in English. This, to make it more accessible to my friends outside of México who, well, do not speak Spanish. Thanks for the support. More to come soon!

Cris