Monday, July 02, 2007 Rant Archive
What makes for compelling drama, even if it’s in a sitcom, is conflict. What makes for an interesting ENTOURAGE is Ari Gold. Last week, the writers of ENTOURAGE gave us both. This week it continues.
Vince (Adrian Grenier) loves director Billy Walsh’s cut of “MEDELLIN;” first-time producer Eric (Kevin Connolly) doesn’t. Billy sends the film to the Cannes Film Festival selection committee all on his own, so Eric makes a move to get Billy fired from the film. Vince spends the afternoon with Dennis Hopper and Drama and Turtle go on a double date. It may seem limiting, but double-dating is all Drama and Turtle should do on this show. They excel at the screwball buffoonery — especially Kevin Dillon, who will never be able to be taken seriously in a dramatic role again and may have even the same effect on his brother Matt’s career, because their affects are so similar. It’s a perfect combination of goofball role and goofball actor if you can mess up not just your own future, but a family member’s as well.
But, the central issue between Eric and Vince over MEDELLIN is complicated, layered and probably too dangerous to really dig into and muck around with, because, ultimately, the show is about being cool, getting with the hottest chick and making a ton of money while getting buzzed with your friends. Does “artistic differences” further any of those ends? Probably not, but we get just a hint of what could be with Vince going below the belt and referencing Eric’s previous career as a pizza parlor manager in the heat of a tiff. This offense is mendable because, at the end of the day, Vince and Eric can look each other in the eye and be honest.
As everyone by now knows, RATATOUILLE is the story of a rat (Remy, voiced by Patton Oswalt) who befriends a kitchen garbage boy (Alfredo Linguini, voiced by Lou Romano) in the heart of Paris’ restaurant district, and accidentally rekindles the public’s love of Gusteau’s, a one-time Michelin Guide five-star rated restaurant. Along the way, we encounter the megalomaniacal Chef Skinner (Ian Holm), “the only chick in the kitchen,” Colette (Janeane Garofalo), Remy’s father (Brian Dennehy), a sepulchral restaurant critic (Anton Ego, voiced by Peter O'Toole) and the ghost of Gusteau himself (Brad Garrett).
With the incredible glut of anthropomorphized animals on screen within the last 18 months, it seems unlikely that one of the most hated and reviled creatures on the face of the planet could possibly win the hearts and minds of the public, yet it succeeds fantastically — all without being cute and/or cuddly.
When director Brad Bird (THE INCREDIBLES) inherited the project from original creator Jan Pinkava (Pixar’s GERI’S GAME), he made incredibly un-Disney-like changes. The story became a real STORY. Dumbing-down for the kiddies was entirely eliminated. He killed off Chef Gusteau — turning him into a figment of Remy’s imagination. And, the cute, make-believe rats were turned back into real rats. In interviews, Bird revealed that original conceptions for the rats had all of them on two legs, with shortened tails and people-like features. In the movie, which you’ve probably already seen with your kids, the rats are almost completely rattish … all the way down to their skin-crawling, skittering nature and horrid pink and slightly scaly tails.
Straight Outta New Zealand!
The boys turn over yet another musical leaf this week, as they bust out their hip-hop style — and hip-hop names. But, the prosperity of the band is threatened when Bret (aka Rhymenocerus) and Jemaine (the Hip-Hopopotamus) get mugged, and Bret runs away, leaving Jemaine to fend for himself against a gang of two.
Jemaine makes friends with the one mugger after the other mugger takes off, leaving the two to think about their fleeing friends while spending a few days in jail. Why did Jemaine get thrown in jail for getting mugged? Well, don’t worry about that. Just understand that things will never be the same in the band, since Jemaine’s emotional scars from getting ditched and mugged run deep.
Fortunately, the boys make friends with their muggers, and even invite them to get some pizza (they can’t because of a previous white supremacist meeting, but they appreciate the offer).
So, the boys, as usual, end up right back where they started: no gigs and no money, but at least they got Jemaine’s cameraphone (which is actually just a camera attached to a cell phone) back from the muggers.
What would you do if you had the ability to astrally project? Would you go to faraway and exotic places, or would you grab the opportunity to sit front row and center at the concert of your favorite band?
In this episode, the latest non-4400 to acquire an ability is faced with this thrilling prospect. Audrey Parker (Constance Towers) — riddled with crippling arthritis in her old age — chooses to transport herself to benign places, such as an art gallery. Once a daring and beautiful woman, Audrey has become somewhat of a recluse, and her greatest desire is just to be a part of the world again. Unfortunately — for me — it would have been a much more exciting episode had she chosen that rock concert instead. It was a sweet story that played on the independence of a woman from a bygone era, but it just didn’t capture my imagination, and that’s what I look for in THE 4400. To be perfectly honest, while I enjoy the fact that they have individual stories that are tied up as neatly as a Christmas day package each week, I prefer the ongoing story lines, and tonight they were hard to find. There were, however, some intriguing elements to the show.
Midway through one of her astral projections, Audrey Parker is murdered right before the NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command) caches up with her. Because Promicin is illegal and Audrey has blatantly boasted — in a blog, no less — about her use of the substance, NTAC is looking to capture this corrupt granny, lock her up and throw away the key. Even in the fantasy world of TV, the government can’t get it right.