CAPRICA 1.3: An Adama Named Joseph

Daniel and Joseph

The latest CAPRICA saw some characters undergo big changes: Amanda (Paula Malcomson) was compelled to resign her position at the hospital, and husband Daniel’s (Eric Stoltz) company took a financial pounding even as he endured a physical beating from Sam Adama (Sasha Roiz). The Graystones had been on top of the 12 worlds, but now they are pariahs.

But perhaps no one has changed as radically — and certainly as willfully — as Joseph Adama (Esai Morales). As the bloody pulp that was Daniel gasped “Adams” at his tormentor, Joseph sneered, “It’s ‘Adama’ now,” signaling his transformation from genteel gangster who engaged in polite bribery, into a guy who ordered his brother to pound Daniel; a thug who literally gets blood on his hands. But Joseph is still completely devoted to his daughter, just like any other doting father. In fact, one could argue that Tamara (Genevieve Buechner) and her mother Shannon (Anna Galvin) — or, more precisely, their loss — are fueling Joseph’s descent into the criminal underworld of the Ha’la’tha. And it is a descent that is rapidly spiralling out of control. Witness Joseph casually suggesting to Sam that he should take out Amanda Graystone to “even out” the two families’ losses. That shocking order constituted the second jaw-dropping CAPRICA ending in two weeks.

DVD: Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Fox-y lady

After actually watching Jennifer’s Body, I have to conclude that this horror movie was itself the victim of some horrible Megan Fox/Diablo Cody backlash, because the flick is really is not bad at all. In fact, it’s a rather good horror-comedy that has some fun tweaking genre conventions as well as Fox’s own bombshell persona. Fox is much different in this movie; nothing like the pure eye candy of the Transformers flicks. Yes, this is a teen horror comedy that is far from horrible.

The story follows sexy Jennifer (Megan Fox) and her best friend, the mousy “Needy” (Amanda Seyfried). After a wannabe rock band bungles an attempt to sacrifice Jennifer to Satan in return for fame, she is possessed by a demon that grants her strength and healing abilities – as long as she feeds its bloodlust. Jennifer sets out chowing down on the boys at school, who are all too easily lured into her honey trap. Problems arise when Needy starts to feel just a little too left out by her pal’s new hobby.

LOST 6.1, 6.2: Kate’s in a Tree!

Juliet hangs in there...

So, after spending some eight months chewing over the Big Questions left by the LOST finale last May — Did Juliet really detonate the nuclear device? Will the white flash reset the clock? Will Oceanic Flight 815 avoid crashing on the island? Will our friends end up forgetting each other and never meeting? Will absolutely nothing happen? — it turns out the answer is, Z: All of the Above and More.

Jack and Faraday’s plan was to detonate the nuke within the confines of the electromagnetic pocket and “reset” the island’s timeline. And it worked. Only it didn’t.

Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) insisted she set off the bomb (and “It worked”), but the Swan site remained intact. At least, in one version of the story. It would appear that instead of resetting time, the blast splintered reality. I think the show began by showing us Jack (Matthew Fox) on the plane in another universe, one in which Flight 815 avoids the original White Event and lands safely in Los Angeles. Perhaps the close encounter with the island left Jack 2.0 with some kind of vague imprint that made him notice the people he otherwise would have been trapped alongside — Desmond, Rose, Bernard, Sayid, etc. It was great fun to once again see such dearly departed characters as Boone (Ian Somerhalder, now Damon on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES) and Charlie (Dominic Monaghan, now Simon on FLASHFORWARD). Mitchell will be seen again as Erica when V returns. Heck, even goofy science teacher Arzt was worth a laugh. Oh, and the island itself is now underwater.

Oscar Unseals the (Nomination) Envelopes

Jeff Bridges

So, it will be Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds duking it out to climb to the top of the Oscar heap, eh? Should be quite a tussle.

I am going to weigh in today with a few quick thoughts about the nominations; just my initial gut reactions. I will return to the topic with a more in-depth look at some of the categories. Those of you looking forward to a treatise on sound mixing will, alas, be disappointed. (For an overall look at my take on 2009 at the cinema, read this.)

I figure former spouses James Cameron (Avatar) and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) will tangle with Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) for the best director crown. My money is on Bigelow, even though I enjoyed Avatar. (The devil in me would love to see the imaginatively titled Basterds get plenty of ink, so people will continue to wonder if the title is a typo.)

Captivating Caprica

Zoe

There’s something rotten on CAPRICA, and I love it. There’s a palpable sense of menace lurking just beneath the surface of gleaming Caprica City, and that makes it interesting. There’s something festering deep down, and it will be a wonder if the Twelve Colonies last long enough to be brought down by the cylons.

Let’s start at the end of the episode: Amanda (Paula Malcomson) “outing” her daughter as a member of Soldiers of the One, based on nothing more than a piece of jewelry and her own fears. The episode piled up revelation after revelation about Zoe — both for viewers and Amanda. Plus, as as a devoted polytheist, Amanda reacted with shame and disgust at the prospect of her daughter being a monotheist. Lashing out seemed like an obvious release of her shock. If Amanda really did not know her daughter, then maybe Zoe could have been a religious extremist. But was her bruised ego worth turning an entire world against her family?

General Hospital’s Not-so-Lucky Elizabeth

GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Lucky and his sister teamed up to blast his brother and treacherous fiancée, putting a new spin on the idea of sibling rivalry.

It may have been a long (long, long) time coming, but the moment when Lucky confronted Elizabeth was entirely worth the wait. The longer the secret affair dragged on, the more Lucky looked like an idiot. He’s supposed to be a detective, yet he could not detect the clues in his own family? No wonder gangsters run roughshod over Port Charles!

Jonathan Jackson really knocked it out of the park when Lucky put the knock on Liz and his conniving brother. Lucky’s anger came across as righteous indignation, and the wrath of a man wronged. Jackson’s face was so contorted with pain and anguish that his red eyes almost appeared to be bleeding! He was like a vengeance demon. And he was entirely in the right.

DVD: The Last Word (2008)

Bentley and Ryder

Whatever happened to Wes Bentley? You remember him, right? He was going to be the Next Big Thing after featuring in a showy role in 1999’s best picture, American Beauty. But he never really caught on. Winona Ryder was once a hot property herself; a rising kid star who had trouble transitioning to adult roles. Then everything went up in flames after a little shoplifting scandal. (How quaint that brouhaha seems now.) Well, these two cooling stars teamed up for a pretty cool indie drama about a man who writes suicide notes for hire via a website.

Evan (Bentley) meets with his clients to learn a bit about them before crafting passages that might capture each person’s uniquely personal pain in the form of an evocative final goodbye. Some clients chicken out, but some follow through; Evan tries not to keep track, but when he notices, he attends the funeral to observe. At one such gathering, he catches the eye of Charlotte (Ryder), the sister of one of his clients. Evan passes himself off as an old college friend of the deceased, and Charlotte pursues him until he agrees to a date. He neglects to confess his complicity in her brother’s suicide, and love blooms. Meanwhile, Evan tries to deal with Abel, a particularly persnickety client played by comedian Ray Romano.

Robert E. Howard: One Who Walked Alone

Robert E. Howard

The date Jan. 22 has been important to me since I was a lad, because it marks the anniversary of the birth of pulp author Robert E. Howard in 1906. One of my true favorites, Howard is most famous for creating Conan the Cimmerian, but his oeuvre also included such colorful characters as King Kull, Cormac Mac Art, El Borak, Sailor Steve Costigan, and another particular favorite, Solomon Kane, a Puritan adventurer (and soon to be a movie). This was evocative stuff for a youngster, and Howard was the first writer I ever tried to emulate. I loved writing my own Conan stories.

I was introduced to Howard through the Marvel Comics series Conan the Barbarian, which adapted Howard’s most influential creation. As often happened when I was younger, I was inspired to track down the books that inspired the comics. The short stories and novels were colorful and quick reads that conjured amazingly vivid worlds. I loved the Conan Mythos; set in a universe Howard dubbed the Hyborian Age, a time before recorded history when men stood against magic and monsters. I was disappointed that Howard’s Conan output was limited, and after voraciously reading everything he had written, I moved on to pastiches written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter based on unfinished manuscripts, story fragments, proposals, etc., as well as other authors like Bjorn Nyberg and Andrew J. Offutt. They all tried hard to ape Howard’s dynamic prose, but there was only one master. I personally always thought comics scribe Roy Thomas best captured Howard’s voice. Later I learned that Howard was a contemporary of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft; the two corresponded, and Howard made significant contributions to Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.

On BEING ERICA Being Back

BEING ERICA returned for its second season on SOAPnet this week, and I thought the premiere (called “Being Dr. Tom”) really opened up the concept in an entertaining way that expands on the concept without compromising what has already been established.

The most important development saw Erica (Erin Karpluk) reunited with Dr. Tom (Michael Riley), but it was not easy. I enjoyed seeing Riley flesh out Dr. Tom. Hell, just giving him more to say than recycling quotations was a win. And, okay, so having a dark past is not the most original (or surprising) development, but it was well-handled. And his disconnect from daughter Sarah will no doubt connect with BE’s target audience. The seeds have been planted for an intriguing mystery — just what is the deal with Dr. Tom? Is he dead or alive?

Webb of Intrigue: Spidey’s New Director

Marc Webb

So there’s a new director at the helm of the Spider-Man movie franchise: Marc Webb (no pun intended), whose (500) Days of Summer made such a splash last year, is taking the reins from genre fave Sam Raimi. Some reports indicate that Webb has signed to make a trilogy of films for Columbia.

First of all, a round of applause for all of Raimi’s hard work and creativity. His first two Spidey films were great fun, and the second is certainly one of my favorite superhero films to date; it will go down in cinema history as a classic. The third installment? Well… not so much. Spider-Man 3 fell into the textbook trap of how to ruin a superhero movie: overstuff it with everything (including the kitchen sink) you can lay hands on. So, the less said about that, the better. Let’s remember Alfred Molina’s stirring turn as Dr. Octopus, and Spidey’s heroic rescue of the runaway commuter train in Spider-Man 2.