Medium Mashup

Category: The Deep End

In-depth think-pieces about Movies, TV, and Games

  • Gone Girl Review – Playing with Genre

    gone-girl_c99723(Because Gone Girl has been out and available for some time now, I will be talking spoilers in this review. Also, because this review skews toward a broader discussion of genre, I am including it as a “review” and a “deep end” piece)

    Six months after its release, I have finally gotten around to watching David Fincher’s Gone Girl. During that time, it had been nigh-impossible to avoid spoilers altogether (Neil Patrick Harris even spoiled his own death during the Oscars), but I did my best, and it ultimately paid off. Much of Gone Girl’s success comes not only from its twists and turns, but from how surprisingly early they come. Each major twist reshapes the narrative, as well as the genre.

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  • The Fast and Furious Evolution of a Franchise

    furious-7_rrN3huFurious 7, the most recent entry in the Fast and Furious series, was released on April 3rd. At the time of this writing, it has already earned more than $800 million worldwide. While this number will likely be eclipsed in the summer by such heavyweights as Batman v Superman and The Avengers: Age of Ultron, $800 million is no small amount. In fact, if we’re considering international gross rather than domestic alone, Furious 7 has made more money in two weekends than nearly any film in all of 2014, including Guardians of the Galaxy, American Sniper, Mockingjay, Captain America, and The Lego Movie. The only two films I can find in 2014 that Furious 7 has not eclipsed globally are the final Hobbit movie and Transformers 4, and neither reached $800 million after only two weeks. The Fast and Furious franchise can now consider itself one of the most lucrative in the world.

    So how, exactly, did this happen? How did a $38 million car racing flick featuring a bunch of barely-known actors turn into a global phenomenon? I may have some insight into that. My fiancee Reba and I had not been following this series. Aside from each having seen one full film in the franchise and a handful of scenes, we decided that we were woefully under-prepared for the juggernaut that is Furious 7. So, to get ready (and prepare for the complete Marvel marathon on April 20th-21st here),  we decided to catch ourselves up on every single film in the series over a single weekend.

    What follows is my account, as a Fast-and-Furious-newbie, of the merits (or lack thereof) of each individual installment, as well as a tracking of the series’ evolution from mid-budget racing series to Michael-Bay-grandiose action franchise. You’re welcome. (more…)

  • What is Louie?

    Louie-Middle-fingerLouis CK’s bizarre, critically-acclaimed FX show, Louie, is now in its fifth season. At this point, most series begin to either repeat themselves or rest on their laurels. The time for self-discovery has passed, the audience has certain expectations, and the writers are playing to what has worked previously.

    In a way, this seems to describe the start of Louie’s new season. However, given that the unpredictable nature of CK’s series, what qualifies as a status quo is far from the norm. In fact, last season’s “experimental” structure, which consisted of a six-part episode, a three-part episode, an hour long episode, and three stand-alones, ultimately congealed into what felt like a regular serialized arc. Thursday’s episode, with its strange cult-y potluck and bizarre throwaway lines (such as the pot luck host describing her sperm donor as “my friend from work who is gay and who died”) is more singular and unique than a lot of what occurred in last year’s outlier of a season.

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  • The Walking Dead and the Cycle of Death

    the-walking-dead_UCaVER(This post will contain spoilers from the most recent season of The Walking Dead. It is written under the assumption that the reader has some level of familiarity with the series)

    The Walking Dead wrapped up its most recent season on March 29th, and it was…decent. Not the best they’ve done, but far from the worst. The issue at the center of the season’s second half, whether or not Rick could acclimate to Alexandria and be trusted, was resolved. All of Rick’s “family” stood up for him, and Deanna gave Rick the order to kill Pete (the wife-beater). It was all in service of getting Rick into a leadership role at Alexandria, which should help them fight off their next threat (presumably the “wolves”) when the show returns.

    You wouldn’t hear that from the fan reaction online, though. The most common complaint seems to be that the finale was “boring,” or that “nothing happened.” Others are pointing out something Norman Reedus said prior to the episode airing, telling fans to “bring a tissue.” In retrospect, this was probably an intentional misdirect to make a particular scene (with Daryl and Aaron trapped in a car surrounded by walkers) more dramatic, but fans did not appreciate the added stakes.

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  • The Last Man on Earth Won’t Settle

    lastmanonearth(The following article contains spoilers for The Last Man on Earth, up through episode 

    The Last Man on Earth is currently halfway through its first season, which makes it an unusual candidate for my blog. Typically, I like to write about TV shows at the beginning or end of a season, but The Last Man on Earth is doing something that I’m not quite sure I’ve ever seen before. In short, it is a sitcom without a status quo.

    As I’ve stated in this blog before, the sitcom formula is built on stasis. Since the core of a “situation comedy” is a specific situation, it is difficult for characters to change or advance because that very change threatens the show’s premise. The Last Man on Earth, however, has been functioning since the pilot as a show where change IS the status quo. It’s been exciting to watch, gaining some ground from the “what will happen next?!” feeling that’s usually reserved for dramas, but also makes it very hard to get invested in the show’s future. We’re now halfway through the first season, and still have no idea what the show is about.

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