I know, I know, I know. Where the hell have I been? I wish I had an interesting answer for that, but I don't, so best to move on and talk movies. Well, and television.
In my eyes, Brotherhood is arguably one of the best shows on television now. If you're a fan of The Wire, Homicide or anything in that vein, you'll find Brotherhood serves you well. Now in the early stages of its third season, Brotherhood -- set in the fictional Rhode Island town known as "The Hill" -- tells the tale of two brothers: thug-with-a-heart Michael Caffee and his younger sibling Tommy, who's a local representative and slowly inching closer and closer to corruption. The series poses interesting questions about morality, family and friendship, and the inherent responsibilities that come with each. Is a mobster bad if he does some nice things? Is a politician good even though he skims from the top?
I recently re-watched the show's second season in anticipation of the new episodes, so I'll focus on those. Reviewing an entire show is a bit trickier than a movie, as you have hours upon hours of viewing to disseminate and digest, but I'll give it a try.
Brotherhood builds upon a relatively predictable concept ("They're brothers! And they're not totally good people!!") by injecting a collection of conflicted and complicated characters -- from Tommy's adulterous but doting wife, to the prickly and conspiratorial matriarch Rose, Brotherhood has nary a boring person onscreen, and the episodes and scenes rarely scream of filler or space-fillers. As I watched episode upon episode, though, I found myself gravitating more toward gangster brother Michael, who while a murderer and all-around "bad" guy, was the most consistent and likable of the bunch.
The main plot threads that carry season two are fairly basic, but engrossing enough. Tommy continues his bid for more power in the state House, while dealing with a crumbling marriage and temptations outside of it. Michael is recovering from a brutal beating suffered at the close of season one and is dealing with the side effects, both medical and career-wise. As Tommy amps up his political clout for a reelection campaign, Michael plays his friends and the cops investigating his criminal organization against each other in an effort to not only weed out those responsible for his injuries, but also to eliminate resident crime boss Freddie Cork, who Michael suspects is in some way connected to the assault that has left him dealing with blackouts and random memory loss.
The two plot threads converge on multiple levels, as we learn toward the end of the season that Tommy could have helped his criminal brother avoid being viciously attacked and his dalliances with a fringe politico get him into trouble with his family.
Jason Isaacs and Jason Clarke, playing Michael and Tommy, respectively, give nuanced and powerful performances as the siblings. There are no clear-cut "good guys" or "bad guys" on the show, merely people dealing with complicated issues and equally complicated friends and family members. Special props should go to Annabeth Gish, for her strong portrayal of Tommy's wife Eileen, who while repenting for her own marital transgressions discovers an inner strength and motivation that went unseen during the first season. While at times painfully annoying in the way only mothers can be, Fiona C. Erickson does a fine job of portraying an aging mother losing her grasp on her children, friends and, inevitably, her own youth. Former teen star Ethan Embry is also surprising as Declan, a talented cop driven to alcoholism and self-destruction when his marriage also begins to fall apart -- among other things I'm hesitant to spoil in this space.
Brotherhood is the kind of show fans of seriously serialized and thoughtful television can sink their teeth into. Yes, you have to watch the previous episode to understand what's going on. Yes, there are more grays than black and whites. Yes, not everything is explained right away. But that's a good thing. Brotherhood carries the torch previously lifted by the classic shows I mention above, and it's only getting better. A
You can catch season three of Brotherhood on Showtime, Sunday nights at 8pm EST.
A few other shows you might want to consider, if you're looking to fill up your TiVo season pass list:
Dexter: I'm not totally sold on Dexter, I have to say. Everything seems to be there -- crime investigation, serial killers, Miami, mystery -- but the pieces don't really add up to a compelling whole. I'm still not sure why I'm supposed to like Dexter, who rarely even acts human during most scenes and then is suddenly a poster boy for psychosis in others. I mean, I get the big picture -- he's a serial killer that kills the really bad people. But, uh, still. Doesn't work for me. And, being a Miami native makes watching the show a bit painful, since it looks nothing like Miami and the scene dressing used to make interiors and restaurants seem "authentic" just comes off as cheesy and poorly researched. Ditto on Lt. La Guerta's "Cuban" accent. Plus, Dexter's sister, apparently a detective in the same police department Dex works at, is annoying and not very interesting. Same goes for grating characters like pudgy sergeant Angel, who has arguably the worst dialogue on the show. Still, I keep watching, thinking it'll go from mediocre to decent. Fingers crossed. C+
Californication: This is a fun show, on a number of levels. David Duchovny plays Hank Moody, a one-time lauded novelist who's hit the dumps since he moved to L.A. to embrace the big life: His longtime lover and child left him, he can't write and despite the constant presence of beautiful women everywhere, Hank can't seem to find happiness at the bottom of the bottle. Duchovny does a great job of playing the lovable asshole -- sleeping around, drinking himself into oblivion, but still longing for that one, true love he let slip through his fingers. Madeleine Martin is great as Hank's tween kid Becca, who serves as the show's voice of reason and comic relief. While at times I find Hank's antics to be a bit much and bordering on the unforgivable, his strong and very real dynamic with Karen makes for good viewing, and keeps me coming back. A-
Most screenwriters will experience this at least once, and if the writing gods hate you it may happen frequently. It's when you find out that your prized script, your high concept masterpiece, your closely guarded return to originality, is in fact set be released as someone else's movie within a couple years. It's a pretty sucky feeling on a few different levels. For one, you're not as smart as you thought you were. When you were first telling those in your closest circle about your killer idea like a bunch of thieves going over the perfect heist, somebody else was banging out draft two of the same idea and stealing your gem. Secondly, the stock in your idea has just taken a big hit. You've just spent a year or more on your idea, confident that it will be a hot product when complete. Now it's tough to gauge just how valuable your high value project is. Thirdly, for whatever reason, someone else out there can get it done and you can not. They're either more connected, more talented, luckier, or sleeping with the person you can't sleep with. Maybe it's all of the above. Whatever the reason, things are falling in place in one of the toughest industries for them, not you.
Maybe I'm being too bitter. Maybe I still feel the sting from the other night when I discovered that a movie is being released in the near future that makes my "unique" idea less unique. I still think my concept is better, as I feel most writers do when they see their idea turn up elsewhere. I'm not too worried, I suppose. I'm young, and hopefully the other bastard writer is old and dying of cancer. Sorry, that was mean. But I am starting to feel better. This blogging stuff isn't so bad, kind of like a virtual punching bag. Too bad I'm only getting fatter as I sit here.
I haven't returned to my idea yet since finding out about the other movie. A part of me is ashamed of the confrontation, like a father approaching his teenage daughter after she got knocked up. But what are you gonna do? It happened, so I guess I just need to bang through my script, hopefully with the same enthusiasm that I had before. Maybe the rival idea will fail as a movie and my script will be poised to step in as the product the other movie should have been. Although, there is something about that situation that feels like sloppy seconds. Whatever, it's Hollywood and I'm an aspiring screenwriter. Sloppy seconds, tainted thirds, and funky fourths are all welcomed at this early stage.
I'm curious as to how other writers react when their idea shows up elsewhere. I'm not talking about a blatant rip off. I don't believe it's so much that as it is there just not really being many truly unique ideas left. I'm going to move forward telling myself that every script I write is already an embryo in several writers' heads. Some will mature at different rates, but that will largely depend on the writer. If my babies are never really my own, then complacency is never an option. It's time to whip these scripts into shape and start shattering the hearts of other writers who thought they had the big idea.
I'm currently in South Africa, rejuvenating my batteries and trying to decide what next to write. It's all part of the process.
Deciding which of the many ideas I have I want to work on, and...
Clearing my mind to make way for clarity of writing.
While I'm a huge advocate of writing every day, at least while you're working on something (I take a few weeks off in between projects), I also strongly suggest that writers take time to focus on other things, see or appreciate the world, and broaden their horizons. It's a big world, and as writers, we try to tell stories that relate to many different aspects of it. Don't kick yourself too much if you take time off every now and then. It's much better to do that than to burn out. My philosophy: to make a story short, every experience you have, good and bad, strengthens you as a writer. Do what you need to do to be able to tell the stories you want to tell.
If you don't read the title closely, you'd probably think I were referring to the first brains-free entry in the Fast and the Furious series (lovingly called the "F&F series" by fans and your mom) titled The Fast and the Furious. But I'm not. While you can see that I'm CLEARLY not talking about the second or third films, 2 Fast 2 Furious or Tokyo Drift. If you look closely and note the lack of articles in the title of the series, you'd know I'm referring to the upcoming fourth installment of the series. See: Fast & Furious. Sequel, duh.
Didn't know there was a new Fast and the Furious movie coming out? If so: good, and I envy you. But if you (like me and apparently most of America) caught Quantum of Solace this weekend you were probably exposed to dangerous amounts of stupid when you saw this tacked on to the front of the movie. To help ease all of your suffering, we're gonna Trailer Trash a movie that hasn't even come out yet. That's right, kids. This movie sucks from the future.
Enough chit-chat. Prepare yourselves: this is what poo will look like in the year 2009:
At 0:14 - Ok, they let us know the truck is full of gasoline. How much you wanna bet it explodes by the end of this scene? At 0:18 - Children, don't try this at home. At 0:35 - What? Whaaaat? At 0:45 - That's right, crank the sucker to 35. At 0:56 - This looks dangerous. At 1:12 - Whoa! WHOOOOA! I knew that thing would explode! At 1:16 - "Can you look into the camera, Mr. Diesel - or can I call you Vin? Vinny? Ok, there we go. Thanks!" At 1:18 - Cue video game music. At 1:25 - Juuuust like it's 2001. At 1:29 - Remember when Paul Walker was a promising young actor? Yeah, me neither. At 1:35 - Oh, those crazy Duke boys. At 1:45 - The guy in the middle hasn't seen the first few movies. At 1:48 - Vin Diesel's laugh - can't tell if the character thought the joke wasn't funny, or the actor himself. At 1:58 - New model, still stupid. At 2:08 - I hope 2009 never comes.
I'm gonna skip over the big question regarding WHY there's even a fourth one of these movies (I'm blaming you, West Virginia) and focus on my next question: What is Vin Diesel doing back in the series? Hasn't his career passed that point? Shouldn't he at least know better by now?
Trailer Trash is a weekly tribute to oddball, cheesy and often just plain terrible movie trailers. Writers: These movies got made... so can yours! You can read through our archive by clicking here.
Screenwriting blogger extraordinaire Ken Levine has posted his always-hilarious seasonal movie preview. My favorite bits:
CADILLAC RECORDS -- Story of Chess Records, famous R&B and Blues label of the 50s. Beyonce as Etta James. Younger audiences won’t know who Etta James is. Older audiences won’t know who Beyonce is. Age groups in the middle will be watching QUANTUM OF SOLACE for the third time.
BEDTIME STORIES – Adam Sandler in a feel-good CGI effects-loaded holiday movie for the whole family! Filled with wonder and magic and that shit.
The Screenwriters League is a collective of NYC-based writers sharing their experiences as they build their careers from the ground up, and hoping to impart any knowledge they gain along the way.
