Evidence of Things Not Seen

The West Wing, Season 7 (not 4, okay, but I like this picture)

This morning, while enjoying some finals-season procrastination, I re-watched my favorite episode of one of my favorite TV shows: The West Wing, Season 4 Episode 19, "Evidence of Things Not Seen." In case you are unfamiliar with this episode, allow me to illuminate you.

This episode takes place on the night of the Vernal Equinox. It opens with Josh and Leo preparing for an office poker game, while CJ is trying to convince Josh and anyone she else she comes across that, at the exact moment (and it must be the exact moment) of the equinox, you can stand an egg vertically. Of course, she is met with rampant skepticism by everyone, especially Toby. Nonetheless, the episode begins with the picture of a perfect White House night off.

A ginormous wrench is thrown in when an un-manned spy plane crashes off the coast of Kaliningrad. The spy plane was taking spy pictures, as spy planes are wont to do, and President Bartlett is forced to call Russia and ask for them back. This proves to be a fairly difficult task because, well, you know those Russians... Meanwhile, Josh is occupied interviewing a candidate for the associate counsel position left open by Ainsley Hayes. Midway through the episode, some guy shoots at the White House, causing the West Wing to go on lockdown.

Like all other West Wing episodes, this one entwines layered inter-personal relationships, fast-paced conversions (sprinkled with words I don't quite understand) and down-to-earth, personable characters I feel I can relate to. This episode is my favorite because it combines all of my favorite things about The West Wing. Allow me:

1. It is the Matthew Perry's first appearance as Joe Quincy, a candidate for the associate counsel position that Josh (Bradley Whitford) has to interview. Since I did not catch Perry's post-Friends, Lifetime-esque movie, this is the only time I have seen him in a non-comedic role. He is subtly humorous, smart, and adorable in his back-and-forth with Josh. This episode is the first of two featuring Joe Quincy. I wish there were more.



2. It takes place in the post-Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) age of Will Bailey (Joshua Malina). It's not that I dislike Sam, because he is smart, funny, and fun to look at. But I prefer Will. He is geeky, yet confident with a healthy dose of sarcasm, something every member of Barlett's staff is equipped with. Will also begins in the Vice President's office, and because apparently in WW USA, VP and P are not BFFs, he often gets intelligently combative with the Barlett staff, which is very entertaining.

3. There is ample Josh/Donna (Janel Moloney) flirty banter. The sexual tension and unspoken love between Josh and his assistant Donna is one of my favorite things about this show, and this episode depicts it excellently, as Donna explains that Joe Quincy might be thought of as handsome by others, but not her, "because you're the only one I think is handsome." After the shots are fired, her joking manner quickly turns to concern for Josh, who had long suffered from PTSD. In a similar fashion, the relationship between Barlett and personal assisstant/son-figure Charlie (Dule Hill) is highlighted when Charlie bursts into the Oval Office, apparently after zealously overcoming several secret service agents, to make sure that the President is alright.

4. CJ (Allison Janney) is definitely one of my favorite characters on TV, ever. She witty, sharp, and adept at taking names in a man's world. She also has a certain element of whimsy and optimism, which sets her apart from the male counterparts. This episode displays that unique whimsy in the form of trying to get her co-workers to believe in the impossible -- getting an egg to stand on its head.

As I said, she faces no non-believer as rigid as Toby (Richard Schiff). This is one of the overwhelming themes throughout the show, which is also why this episode is, in my opinion, archetypal. Constantly, optimism must battle with cynicism, as the characters try to balance what must be done with what they wish could be done.

The writing and issues on the show keep the audience on a mental and moral high wire. If you haven't watched The West Wing, I highly recommend it, and when you get to Season 4, Episode 19, give me a call.

All is Fair in Love & War: Trailer of the Week

Apparently, Madonna is badass at everything.

My Future Production Logo?

The logo for the coming Pandabear Productions...

SUPER-Excited: Trailer of the Week

We all know I love Joss Whedon. We all know I love superheroes (or you do now). So, obviously, I am crazy excited for the upcoming Avengers movie.

I Object! ...to the depiction of women in new lawyer shows.

Somewhere between my British TV kick and my SyFy TV kick, there was the Lawyer TV kick. You'll remember that two new lawyer shows came out over the summer. Actually, probably more did, but shut up -- I'm the blogger here. These two shows are particularly interesting because they are practically the same show.

They revolve around two hot, edgy, unorthodox, yet brilliant lawyers who have or form the perfect bromance while winning un-winnable cases. Yep, you guessed them! USA's Suits and TNT's Franklin and Bash. In the former, badass lawyer and cutie-pie Gabriel Macht takes fake lawyer and mini-cutie-pie Patrick J. Adams under his wing at a plate glass law firm in New York. In the latter, hetero-lifemates Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar join a cushy law firm in Los Angeles, where their frat-boy demeanor never stops them from winning a case.

Woah.

At first, I was really impressed with these shows because they had women -- even women of color -- holding high ranking and seemingly significant positions. But, as I kept watching, I became more and more unimpressed.

Enter, The Good Wife. The Good Wife is an awesome show, currently in its third season, about Alicia, played by Julianna Margulies, who goes back to work at a big law firm after her politician husband is caught in a sex scandal. On The Good Wife, the main character is obviously a woman. One of the name partners in her firm is also a woman, played by Christine Baranski, as is the firm's investigator, Kalinda, played by Archie Panjabi.

Now, I'm no expert, but this is the first time I have seen an investigator play a vital role on a lawyer show. Seeing how well that worked out for The Good Wife, the others followed suit. And hey! Apparently all investigators are women! It's like they said, "See how important and indispensable Kalinda is. Well we have one and she's a woman too! Look, feminists -- important. indispensable. woman." And on F&B, she's even black! Yep, that will distract us from the bikini clad asses you zoom in on. Who cares if your main characters are misogynists -- you have a black chick.

On F&B, a high ranking member of the firm is played by Gabrielle Beauvais. Likewise, a name partner on Suits is played by Gina Torres (hmmm...I blog about Gina Torres a lot). And that is great. Images like these in the media make people recognize powerful women as normal. But it's not that great because, on both of these shows, these powerful women are just tools for the men on the show.

Suits..................................................F&B

Again, Woah.
And...does it seem to anyone else that these shows are bundling their minorities so their main characters can still be white men?

Yes, if you met these women in real life, you'd never dare to question their authority. But you won't meet them in real life because they aren't real. As important as their positions in the diegetic world of the show may be, their depiction on the show is more important. On Suits, Gina Torres is badass, but she is still a means to an end for the male characters. Gabriel Macht is lagging so she whips him into shape so that he can go forward and win the day. The audience needs to know that he isn't completely cold-hearted, so he expresses his loyalty and gratitude to her. Suits also features a black female paralegal Rachel who, while better developed, does much the same thing for Patrick J. Adams as Gina Torres does for Gabriel Macht. PJA needs help so he can win the day, so Rachel goes into mega-research mode for him. Etc. Etc.

Likewise, on F&B, Gabrielle Beauvais sleeps with Bash (or was it Franklin?) in the first episode. I don't have a problem with women being promiscuous, because I call it being comfortable with sexuality. I have a problem with her promiscuity being a plot point and, consequently, a means of tension between two other male characters. And after a whole season, I know that she doesn't take shit (because she practically told me) and that she slept with Bash (or was it Franklin?) after dating the other lawyer. That's all I know about her. The black female investigator plays more of a role, but she is still unsatisfying.

Now, let's hear it for The Good Wife! Not only is the main character a smart, sexy, confident woman, but a couple of the supporting characters are smart, sexy, confident women too! And I know that because they have their own storylines. They actually make decisions for themselves and have unique voices, rather than cookie-cutter personalities. On this show, even Alicia's daughter, at 15ish, is a great character. She opinionated and open-minded.

Not only does The Good Wife have great female characters, but Kalinda is also bi-sexual. This depiction of a LGBT woman is getting props all over the place.

So, if you just love lawyer shows, tune into The Good Wife and, in the summer, pick Suits over Franklin and Bash. At least you won't hate yourself.

A Little Anarchy: Trailer of the Week

I don't know a lot about punk rock, but The F Word looks really good.
It makes me wonder if Will Smith ever thinks he just don't understand.... (clever, right?! I know)

I Laughed...I Cried

The other night, I was doing some homework and participating in some good-natured procrastination. And somehow, I was simultaneously reminded of how much I love film and how much I hate a lot of current Hollywood. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not one those film buffs that thinks every commercial endeavor is crap. I like artless, shoot-em-up movies and predictable romantic comedies as much as the next gal. But there are some things that I hate (hate hate hate). In addition to snakes, mice in my bed, and natural disasters, I hate pointless remakes and book butchering.

We'll start with the former...I'm sure that you have heard about the remake of Footloose coming out. Why you would remake Footloose is a mystery, but why you would make it exactly the same is original is simply unfathomable. Yes, there are only so many original stories floating between studios. And when the stories run out, you must reuse an old one. Accepted. But, for pete's sake, do something new! For instance the recent Hairspray is, of course, a remake of John Waters' Hairspray, but the two films are very different. The original is edgy, with a lot of sexual humor, while the new one is pop-ish pulp. Footloose is not re-imagined. It just re-filmed. Observe:

Coming blood-curdling remakes include Taps and possibly The Thin Man. I'm angry enough about Taps, but I pray that The Thin Man never ever gets a reboot. There should never be another Nick and Nora Charles. Ever.

And the later...I feel the need to warn you that the following will be a passionate rant, which you may or may not appreciate. I can't keep it bottled up. While on a break from reading, I indulged in one of my favorite methods of procrastination, watching trailers, and I came across this one for One for the Money:

This movie is based on the first book of one of my favorite series -- Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It is about an out of work Jersey girl, who takes a job as a bounty hunter in a pinch. Queue shenanigans. The books are hilarious and completely evoke what it is to be "Jersey." And now it's being turned into a crappity crap movie starring Katherine Heigl. Even if I didn't strongly dislike Katherine Heigl (which I do, becasue, well, she's Katherine Heigl), she couldn't play Stephanie Plum. Her impression of a Jersey Girl is horrible and kind of insulting. Beyond that, none of the characters were cast correctly, especially the 100% Italian American McSteamy cop Joe Morelli, who will be played by Dublin native Jason O'Mara. It's a damn shame... Ok, I'm ok. I'll cool it.

But then, every once in a while, like those moments when you see an adorable little kid being adorable and you think that the world may not suck, I see something that makes me remember why I love movies so much. This time, it was examining the pure artistry that goes into different aspects of filmmaking and learning to appreciate the parts that aren't film at all, like the sound design. Sound design didn't really come up until the 70s, the first sound designer being Walter Murch, who worked on The Conversation in '74 and Apocalypse Now in '79, among others. Those are probably two of the most famous sound designs and I never really appreciated them. The things that sound designers mix together that most audience members will never notice is amazing. For instance in the final scene of Silence of the Lambs, Skip Lievsay increases the intensity by adding a low wolf growl under the other effects while Clarice is walking into Buffalo Bill's basement. You don't hear it but you feel it. And the sound designer for Star Wars, Ben Burtt, mixed the Tibetan, Mongolian, and Nepali languages to recreate "Ewokese." Would you think of that? Neither would I.

Things like these remind me of the artistry and innovation that has gone into films. Even if there are remakes of already mediocre movies or the slaughter of good books, there are also the classics and the wonderful new films that creep through. It's a beautiful thing. And it makes me thankful that I am (1) a film buff and (2) not planning to make a career in Hollywood.