A Little Push - Thoughts on the Hollywood Machine 05.23.09
Posted by Rick Tym on 05.23.2009
The new V, Ghostbusters 3 is a go, and info on Michael Moore's latest documentary in the Memorial Day weekend edition of the Push!
The Push Warned You Months Ago. The Aliens Are Coming.
Oh yes, they are. Benevolent and helpful and borderline religiously zealous, Visitors from another planet are going to be landing on ABC in a midseason addition to the network's 2010 lineup. I'm sure a lot of you have already seen the trailer for the update of V, a sci-fi offering from the Eighties that holds a special place in some of our hearts. For those that haven't, check out the embedded video below and we'll meet back up afterwards to discuss.
Interesting. Most of the pertinent elements from the old miniseries and short-lived television show seem to be in place, with some new emphasis on Homeland Security (Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell plays an FBI agent; guess she may not have survived that Jughead detonation after all) and the paranoia inherent in a bunch of alien motherships encircling the globe, strategically placed above major cities. Some of the CGI is suspect to be sure, but there isn't evidence (yet) of anything too mistakenly overblown when it comes to special effects. The question is: how well will this update work?
Sawyer: Heard you got a new pilot.
Juliet (chuckling): Um hum.
Sawyer: That mean you're not coming back?
Juliet: …
Everybody that was watching when V first made the rounds were sucked in after seeing those huge round alien saucers parking in the Earth's atmosphere. Rather than sit silently until being triggered to perform mass destruction a la Independence Day, the Visitors showed their suspiciously human faces, announcing that they came in peace to help mankind. (Did anyone else think that turning the underside of that spaceship into a high-def video messaging system was a nice touch? I did.) But everybody knew that the adage "too good to be true" would be par for the course when it came to alien arrival—after all, what kind of show would it have been if there was no conflict revealed eventually—and sure enough, those human-looking Visitors hid a secret beneath their human facades. They were lizards, people. Reptilian, cold-blooded LIZARDS!
Sorry, my excitement got the best of me. I've gotta get the old miniseries (at least) on DVD for nostalgia purposes. While I'm all for the preservation of fond memories, there's not too much wrong with updating the Vconcept for a newer audience. (It may still point a valid finger at the fact that the Hollywood machine is starved for fresh, original concepts, however.) As many across the message boards of the internet have said, the Push wouldn't have minded a change in locale. It would've been nice to see the conflict unfold amidst a city other than New York. 24 changed its surroundings and went to D.C. for season seven and that did wonders for a show that was once written off as creatively bankrupt. (Of course, they're moving to the Big Apple for season eight, so what do I know? Still, going from L.A. to D.C. at least offered a change of pace.) While setting the new show in the nation's capital may have been redundant—by choosing not to do this we may have been spared those shots of military and political war rooms that are so prevalent in stories like this—the Push still feels that while New York is one of the greatest cities in the nation, it would've nice been to give Gotham a break when it comes to terror and conflict.
Because make no mistake about it, this series will most likely kick off with a two-hour event and make its big reveal (seen in the last seconds of the trailer above) before jumping into high gear. They're still lizards, after all, and while these new Visitors may not be coming to this fictional Earth to steal our water and harvest us as food, you know they've got to be up to something nefarious. I do like the idea of the aliens selling us hope as a means to their end, and think it's clever that they're presenting themselves as a solution to our problems instead of just offering to exchange minerals and other Earth resources for technological advancement. It's a not-so-subtle reflection of our current times, when war and financial perils have us seeking some type of solution to our everyday woes. It'll like the ultimate deus ex machina going horribly, horribly wrong once it's discovered that the Visitors have most likely traveled millions of light years to, you know, eat us.
One thing the Push is really hoping is that this incarnation is not deep and heavy like the BSG update. (No disrespect intended there, either.) Sure, there's some interesting subtext to examine in the ABC preview alone. Issues of wanting to serve the "other side," that little deus ex machina thing we just talked about and the persecution of science all make for interesting fodder. But it should be kept to just that—subtext—while demonstrating a cohesive and compelling narrative. For those that may disagree I refer to the original miniseries, where scientists were persecuted for their danger to the Visitors plans, an allegory to the fear of science present then (and now) that was kept cooking on one of the stove's burners—just not necessarily the front one. I'm not expecting camp or nothing but action (although I am looking forward to some cool laser light shows sooner or later) but I'm also not going to continue to tune in if it gets too damned preachy. Let's have a bit of escapism in our entertainment. Not everything has to be solely philosophical or Biblical; you can have your cake and eat it too was long as the recipe is balanced.
Until we get a better look at what this series has in store, I am greatly looking forward to the pilot's premiere. And isn't it funny to see another Party of Five alum hit the airwaves once again? Scotty Wolf looks pretty solid here in the "anchorman who questions the Visitors' motives" role, and one can't help but wonder Wolf is destined to enjoy some of the good fortune afforded to Matthew Fox due to his involvement in that other popular ABC ensemble sci-fi drama. It's also nice to see another former Firefly cast member hit the ground running. Nathan Fillion's Castle and Chuck, which features Adam Baldwin, have both been renewed, so here's hoping that Morena Baccarin shares in some of that luck. That might mean that the updated V has bigger intentions than just cashing in on a name (and some of that afore-mentioned nostalgia), and worth keeping around for longer than a few episodes.
Who You Gonna Call?
Back when I first started this news report I was jazzed about the possibility of a third Ghostbusters installment. Now I am even jazzier because it seems as though a live action GB3 is no longer a pipe dream. Dan Aykroyd spoke recently with the L.A. Times and said the third film may be in production as early as this winter.
One more time. With feeling.
All of the principal cast members (sans Rick Moranis) are set to return. This means that besides Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson are all coming back, in addition to Sigourney Weaver. The screenplay outlining a new generation of Ghostbusters taking the reins from the old team, written by Year One scribes Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky and discussed ad nauseum on the web, will be used. However, Ivan Reitman will not be returning to produce.
Once again I'm going to use the phrase "cautiously excited" to describe my feelings about this one. It's absolutely fantastic that all of the old cast members are coming back. Remember that nostalgia factor I mentioned above? In a purely selfish way I am embracing the need for such warm and fuzzy memories here. If done properly this three-quel can honor the old films and set up a new franchise, making everyone happy. From a business standpoint the first two films will enjoy resurgence on DVD/Blu-Ray (as well they should because really, does goofy fun ever go out of style?) and the movie-going audience will be a happy (and therefore financially healthy) mix of old and newer fans.
Of course you're going to hear some grumbling about the possibility of the "new" Ghostbusters being made up of members of the Apatow clan, but that shouldn't be a major negative. Aykroyd, Murray and Ramis remind me of the same type of comedy fraternity, making funny, enjoyable movies that still hold up upon viewing today. (I know the second Ghostbusters wasn't that great, especially compared to the first one. Still, my rose-colored nostalgia glasses forbid me from not joining in the wacky fun. Sue me.) My caution lights only turn yellow in the hope that everyone involved remembers what made this a franchise worth revisiting in the first place.
There's also a little bit of worry associated with Aykroyd's desire to have female Ghostbusters added the mix. Hear me out before you assume anything based on that statement, because this is an excellent idea, but only if we're not subjected to the likes of Megan Fox in the film. Let's have some funny and intelligent women in it rather than just somebody for the new Ghostbusters to drool over. Love interests are one thing, but I'd prefer it if they were more like Janine Melnitz. Her scenes with Rick Moranis slayed me, and it would be better to showcase more characters like her instead of the CW starlet of the week wearing the requisite pair of glasses to make her seem nerdy.
On that note, Reitman or no Reitman, here's hoping the producers loosen the purse strings and bring Louis Tully out of retirement. That would make this fan very, very happy, and I don't think I'm alone in this sentiment.
Michael Moore's Latest Doc to Focus on Economic Meltdown
Michael Moore's documentaries are perhaps the most audience-dividing works in the genre. Some love them, some loathe them, some take them too seriously and others laugh along with his instances of ridiculousness. Moore is set to return to the theater on October 2nd, 2009 with his as-of-yet untitled look at the root causes of the global economic meltdown, billed as "a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as ‘the biggest robbery in the history of this country' – the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions. (credit: darkhorizons.net)
Moore's statement on the issue is thus: "The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn't have enough wealth. They wanted more -- a lot more. So they systematically set about to fleece the American people out of their hard-earned money. Now, why would they do this? That is what I seek to discover in this movie."
What, me worry?
The Push will save any and all opinions on the works of Michael Moore for another time (or, in an effort to ward off derisive comments, forever) but his latest, which comes twenty years after the release of Roger and Me, should be as thought-provoking (because even if you don't agree with the film maker, you cannot deny that he evokes some type of response from anyone who chooses to watch his stuff) and engaging as any of his other efforts. The Push is looking forward to seeing who the documentarian chooses to try to interview successfully this time around and what answers we may receive when it comes to the fleecing of the American public.
Outtro
The entertainment news is light this week, except for the networks announcing their fall schedules. Rather than delve further into this subject I encourage you all to seek out Al Norton's Two Tivos to Paradise for all the latest and greatest on the all of next season' lineup announcements. As most of you already know, his is one of the best television features on the net, let alone 411.
So until next time I wish you all a happy weekend and Memorial Day if you're in the States. As always, thanks for tuning in for A Little Push.
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