Category Archives: movies

Sep12

September 12, 2015 — I Am My Own Zunami

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

 

Z Nation: Zunami

I was glad to see the Chiller network is running a Z Nation marathon amid the vast wasteland that is weekend television.This was my favorite episode in the first season. And I think a turning point for several characters.

At the beginning of the episode, the group has just lost their leader, Charlie. He’s also the love of Roberta’s life (at least this life), and she’s about to give up. Murphy, in his not-so-subtle way, tells her to get back with the program. A “zunami” is coming – a wall of zombies, headed south, and our friends are trying to stay a step ahead of them. Having had no water for a couple of days though, they’re not at the top of their game. Only Murphy is fine, since he can “retain his bodily fluids.”  They become trapped and the only choice is to hide inside the dead body chambers of a morgue, after ousting one of the inhabitants. Murphy, not having the same worries as the others, is able to remain among the zombies and goes out to find supplies. To distract themselves from what’s surrounding them, Roberta thinks about food and Doc thinks about bands from the ‘70s. One of the expendable characters they’ve picked up along the way can no longer take the claustrophobia, and busts out of his chamber, quickly getting eaten, while the others hold their collective breaths.

Citizen Z gets a visitor, cosmonaut Yuri, who has landed from a defunct space station. Although Citizen Z is cautious, the two become friends, sharing stories, having a nip of vodka, and playing golf.  Citizen Z has been alone a long time, so it’s a happy moment when he’s finally able to communicate with another human being face to face. Especially when he began this episode saying good-by to Charlie and saluting his bravery via webcam.

This episode is heartbreaking on a couple of levels.  One is the change we see in Murphy – becoming both braver and more hardened. He’s a reluctant anti-hero, starting to realize the power he has over the zombies. After stealing supplies from a living mother and child, he lets the zombie father back into the house. Why? I still don’t get that. Is there some method to that madness or does he have a cruel streak? After seeing season two’s premiere episode last night, I’m hoping Murphy comes back from the dark side. He isn’t entirely gone, but I don’t like where he’s headed.

And there’s also Citizen Z finally forging a real friendship, only to realize at the end, he’s still alone. Earlier in the episode, a carbon monoxide alarm has gone off.  Since it’s interfering with Citizen Z’s concentration on his golf game, he’s whacks it with the golf club, knocking it off the ceiling, rather than checking the air levels. This does seem a little contrary to Citizen Z’s personality, but creates the setting where we get to really know him.

Seeing it again was interesting in the way that watching The Sixth Sense a second time is. We can now look for “clues.” The first thing Yuri says to Citizen Z is that the air is not safe, even after Citizen Z has told him it’s all right to remove his helmet; Yuri having so many similarities to Citizen Z is no coincidence, but understandable, since he is Citizen Z; Citizen Z researching Yuri’s space station on his tablet (yes! we still have wifi!) and seeing that it had run out of air and all were presumed dead; Yuri’s continual questioning about Citizen Z’s dog sleeping the day away; Yuri knowing that Citizen Z’s real name is Simon, which even we didn’t know.

When Citizen Z discovers Yuri has put his space suit back on, he draws a gun and asks who Yuri really is and why he has intruded on the compound.  At first, Yuri tells him he’s asking the wrong question, but when Citizen Z asks why Yuri has put his suit back on, Yuri tells him he’s closer.

A physical fight ensues. Yuri is about to strangle Simon, cutting off his air, while continuing to badger him into remembering what he knows. What is different about today? What is wrong with dog? What do you know? When Yuri asks him why he can’t breathe, Simon says it’s because there is no oxygen. Yuri disappears and the figurative light bulb comes on. Citizen Z drags himself and his dog outside, where they both recover. (Whew!) Seeing Citizen Z standing at the entrance to the compound, alone with his dog (only known as Pup) was actually a little painful and brought tears to my eyes. I so wanted him to have some company.

While The Walking Dead is more like a combination of Orson Welles and Werner Herzog direction, Z Nation is like a Tarantino/Rodriguez effort. The terror is high, but the humanity and laughs continually bubble to the surface, somehow making it more personal. (The only advice my father gave me upon leaving home was, “Don’t lose your sense of humor.” He must have known how easy that would be to do in this world.) I’ve found myself invested in this diverse band of characters, rooting for them, laughing with them, holding my breath when it looks like there’s no way out for them, and weeping inside for them.

I love the horror genre, but zombies have always been my favorites, because zombie stories are rarely really about zombies; instead being representative of real life terrors. Sometimes it’s obvious, like those where humans became zombiefied because of biological warfare or some nuclear waste leak. Others contain more subtlety, like Colson Whitehead’s Zone One, which basically tells us that we need to leave a lot of our “dead” ways behind. (I read it while the electricity was out after Hurricane Sandy and I couldn’t have picked a more appropriate book.) While I haven’t made a definitive decision on what Z Nation is really about – and like The Walking Dead, we are not privy as to why this is happening – I tend to think they both involve the human struggle with ourselves, as well as those who are different from us, and trying to move forward in today’s ever-changing landscape.

Or as Pogo once so succinctly put it: We have met the enemy and he is us.

Aug31

August 30, 2015 — Dating Cait, Dead People & a Train

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What I Watched Today

(random, rambling thoughts on today’s TV)

 

I Am Cait

I don’t blame Cait for being apprehensive about dating. Any woman getting thrown back into the dating pool at 65 would be scared. Unless you’re Tina Turner or some other mega-fabulous being. Cait and friends go to a club where gorgeous guys are pole dancing and dollar bills are being thrown around. Poor Cait is so uncomfortable, it reminds me of Benjamin’s date with Elaine in The Graduate.

Quote of the episode – Cait referring to the club: “In The Abbey they’re all packin’.”

Um…just because Cait is uncomfortable with the strippers doesn’t have anything to do with her liking/not liking men. Seriously, Jenny? Jenny can be pretty astute though, pointing out that Cait has always escaped her problems through work. IMO, it’s better than escaping through drugs. At least you make money rather than spend it. Cait suggests that being with a man might make a transgender woman feel like “a real woman.” When Jenny asks what she means by that, she says “any other woman you see on the street.” Jenny then gives her the advice we should all heed, that Cait is “normal” right now and a woman doesn’t need a man to validate her and make her a woman. I’m sure there’s a country song in here somewhere. Welcome to my world Cait.

What was interesting is that Jenny also said Cait has too much work on the brain. Wasn’t she the same person who suggested Cait be a one-woman educator for the masses? I’m glad she’s come to see that Cait does care about the rest of the world and not just what’s in her shoe closet.

One of the sadder things brought up tonight is how often transgender women are made to think they’re only good for one thing once their transgender status has been revealed. That men will romance them until they find out, and after that’re reduced to late night booty calls. The words that have been hanging silently in the air throughout the series are finally given a voice. Maybe Cait should date Candis. I think she should. Candis is the whole package. I’d date Candis.

Cait tells Candis that the worst thing is to not have hope for the future. I totally agree. Lots of pearls of wisdom tonight.

Fear the Walking Dead

Who is this kid with the acne – in other words, the 30-year-old they’re trying to get us to believe is in high school – who keeps skulking around and obviously knows something? Ok, now he’s talking. Conspiracy theories and how when society crashes, it’s like Lord of the Flies. He’s also gotten the knife back that Madison confiscated from him in the first episode. Except a pocket knife against a zombie is hardly going to be effective, especially a fresh zombie. The knife’s metal is quickly tested on Principal Artie and Tobias (the acne-faced kid) has a hard time getting it through Artie’s thick skull.

Curtis and his ex are looking for their other son who is not Nick. He’s at some kind of protest where things are about to get out of hand. Everything is getting dicey with dead people coming back to life and of course the looters are busy. It’s nice to know that some things never change. A tragedy has happened? Quick! Let’s steal some TVs! The three hole up in a barber shop. As it gets even creepier outside, there is no way Travis can leave to meet Madison, the plan having been to leave Los Angeles together. Madison is at home with Nick & her daughter, Alicia. Things are not going well outside there either.

Will Travis be able to get away to meet Madison? Will Madison be able to get away to meet Travis? Why is it 2 weeks until the next episode?

Snowpiercer   (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Just to prove I don’t just watch schlock, let’s talk movies. I caught Snowpiercer on Showtime over the weekend. It was so good, even though I was at home, I didn’t even want to get up to go to the bathroom.

Giving a Reader’s Digest Condensed version of the plot, in trying to fix global warming, a huge miscalculation has been made and brings on another ice age, killing all life. Apparently, however, there was some warning, because the survivors are now bound for nowhere on a gigantic train. The train (the number of cars never talked about, but in the graphic novel, it’s 1000+) is a microcosm of society, with the elite being in the front cars, and the dregs of humanity in the back. Kind of like your everyday flight on a major airline. It’s a nightmare living in the back – they’ve been on the train for 17 years now – so it’s time for a revolution.

As the group of rebels goes forward through the train, I was reminded of The Warriors (1979), where a gang has to get back to their home turf, fighting various rivals (in various costumes and makeup!) as they make their way through New York City. Snowpiercer is very detail oriented, and I was fascinated with the different cars and the different groups of people.

There are lots of great fight scenes, which made me wonder if those In the tail section (or “the shoe” as Tilda Swinton reminds them, while the people in the front section are “the hat”) had been watching Ninja movies and doing strength training all those years, since they have extreme fighting down to a science. There is also a very weird break In the action because the new year arrives.

A lot of the characters are weird, although I guess I’d be weird too, if I was riding a train for 17 years. I hate being in the car for more than two hours. Tilda Swinton is remarkable as Minister Mason, a somewhat androgynous second in command, chewing the scenery, using words like “hooliganism,” and spewing forth great lines, such as, “You suffer from the misplaced optimism of the doomed.”

One of my favorite scenes was in the aquarium section (an absolutely gorgeous set!) where sushi is also served twice a year, and It just so happens that this is one of the times. As the insurgents prepare to dig in, leader Curtis stops Mason from eating, handing her one of the protein bars that the rear cars have been eating for years. No doubt she knows what it’s made out of – insects – something Curtis and crew discovered along the way. Although truthfully, that’s supposed to be one of the best sources of protein. I know. You eat it then.

The train itself reminded me of Coney Island’s rickety wooden roller coaster, Cyclone, the scary way it bounced along the tracks at breakneck speed. None of the parts are getting any younger either, and when she blows, it’s a phenomenal scene. Somehow, I missed this in the theater. It’s a shame because it’s just the kind of film I like to see at the movies. Lots of special effects and blowing things up. It makes me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth, since it costs as much as a cruise for a ticket now. Thank God for the dollar store, so I don’t have to take out a second mortgage to get candy.

I can understand why, at the end, Curtis doesn’t want the job of overseeing humanity. My first job in NYC was with a place that took ticket orders for shows before TicketMaster was born. I was a supervisor for a while and I hated it. I didn’t want to tell other adults when they were allowed to have a bathroom break. So I know how you feel, Curtis.

The story was taken from a graphic novel, but I wish it was a “real” book because I have a few questions. The most pressing of which concerns a polar bear seen at the end of the film. If the earth had was uninhabitable, and all life dead (we saw this to be true looking out the windows throughout the film), where did it come from? It can’t be evolution, because there was nothing to evolve from except snow. Did God put it there? Did it fall out of the train? Will it eat those kids who survived?

Snowpiercer made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me watch it a second time. It was one of those movies where afterward, you don’t want to watch anything else, because you know it will pale in comparison.