Asymptote of the week
First off, not to pretend that I pay attention to important current events, but seriously, send all your good vibes and support over to Haiti. I’ve been monitoring this and I don’t have to remind you how much aid they need. Here is a list of support sites so you can do your part!
In other imminent news, Conan O’Brien. What a clusterfuck that is. As anyone can tell you, I’m a die hard Conando fan. I’ve always despised Leno — the Daily Show saved my life as a tween when I finally had something else to watch before I went to bed. Honestly, it’s not that I even dislike Leno as a person (or the fact that he is acting big NBC pimp douchebag right now by pushing Conan out), but I loathe him as a comedian. When I was, say, thirteen, I would whine with my friends about how boring and repetitive Leno was, and how awesomely quirky Conan was. Now, you may say at thirteen, I knew dick. It’s true, I wasn’t really keen on what was funny (at some point, I latched on to Dane Cook, so suffice to say my clout is limited at best), but twelve years later, everyone seems to agree that Leno was never truly amusing so much as a tent pole for the Tonight Show. He was our Carson-replacement. And while Conan has his on and off nights, he was much more consistent (and loyal to his viewers).
I can’t say I understand fully what the ploy is here. Some say NBC just loves its Leno. Others say Comcast’s overlords are pushing this 12:05 Tonight Show nonsense because of DVR support. Others are just simply fearful that Conan’s brand of humor is running thin to an aging thirty-something audience, and so the cord is being force cut. Me, I don’t care why, I just want to know how NBC can treat its people this way, especially one of its most loyal and supportive. Even when Leno got the 10 PM gig, an egregious slap in the face and lack of shown support for the new Tonight Show, Conan was agreeable. Now, well, it’s the last straw. Without blabbing beyond the point of necessity, all I will say is that we, the viewers, are suffering for this network incompetence. Leno isn’t low-rated because he’s airing at 10. He’s low-rated because he’s not funny; just read the reviews, NBC. Let him float on his block of ice into the sea and give Conan some time to buoy to the shore.
Or don’t, and screw yourselves even further. Fourth place is getting awful comfy, ain’t it?
Finally, as though the Gods read my blog, I received a screener of Fantastic Mr. Fox! And guess what: along with The Hurt Locker, it is my favorite film of 2009. Deceptively created as stop-animation cartoon, Fox is perhaps one of the most unique, engaging, and merely fun movies I’ve seen in so long. To me, it’s ups Up in being much more relatable (even if Up’s aging storyline was incredible), with Foxy (Clooney) being a self-centered middle-aged fox reliving his glory days as a thief, draining the patience of his loyal wife (Meryl Streep), and blatantly ignoring his insecure son (Jason Schwartzman). It’s about family and big business and silly Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-esque hilarity. And somehow the animation just works so well. And it’s really not for kids, honestly, but I suppose most of the risque will float over their heads.
To immerse yourself in this movie, from frame one, is key. You can’t overthink about the voice actors or the complexity of the stop motion (though it’s quite hard when you see how beautifully designed animal’s whiskers or underground tunneling looks). The story is fun and Clooney’s performance is so amazingly unrestrained, it makes Up in the Air seem like sleepwalking. Also, Wes Anderson returns to form here, using his own atypical form of filmmaking, with long static shots heightened by subtle and biting sarcastic dialogue, in a way that seems strangely suited for animation. If a sequel was viable, please bring it on. Plus, Anderson used a bunch of non-actor associates to cover major roles, such as his brother, and their performances are often times more impressive than the big names. But again, Clooney and Schwartzman sure know how to take dialogue and hit over the fences. And small roles from Michael Gambon and Owen Wilson don’t hurt either.
Watching Fox made me realize that 2009 was a pretty damn good year for movies. Between Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox, (500) Days of Summer, and a slew of other flicks, I think we’re getting a lot of unique work from seasoned and green filmmakers. Sometimes you get a blockbuster visual feast with a boring story (Avatar) that still pleases, or you get something wholly unusual but equally fascinating (Fox or Hurt Locker), or even a new take on something completely overdone as a genre (Summer).
Now if they’d just let me make my science fiction Christmas epic, the world would be much better off.
-M
