Gravity’s Weightlessness

Most movies are about relationships. Action films can also double as a buddy movie or a (usually bad) romance.  Thrillers and horror films often have characters with deep connections to one another that get severed – literally and metaphorically. Even romances, the uber-relationship movie, have other bonds layered in. So when a movie dares to strip itself of all relationships and focus on one character’s internal and external struggle to live, it’s exceptionally daring.

 

Gravity is a film that exceeds expectations, and after one hell of teaser trailer, my expectations were pretty high. Marketed as a thriller because visual poem isn’t a niche yet, Alfonso Cuaron’s film focuses on one astronaut trying to get back to Earth. The story is riveting, the special effects memorizing, even the score is breathtaking. Yet the film’s beating heart is Sandra Bullock’s performance as Dr. Ryan Stone. Several actresses turned down the role before Bullock stepped in to fill Dr. Stone’s spacesuit, and the audience is lucky she did.

Even during Dr. Stone’s weakest moments — her silent but visceral freak outs — Bullock radiates the inner strength of the character. Bullock creates, with the most subtle of movements, someone you believe in. And in a movie that could so easily have been over-the-top, her subtlety is the force that grounds the audience’s experience. You forget that you are looking down at Earth, watching one unfathomable event after another as you are tethered to Dr. Stone’s unspoken inner monologue. That’s right, unspoken, because most of the drama takes place in Bullock’s eyes. Flashbacks aren’t needed as she gives short answers about herself to George Clooney’s Matt Kowalski, her commander. The joy, heartache and loneliness of Dr. Stone’s previous life unfolds before the audience in the grace of Bullock’s voice, manner and stare.

It’s refreshing to find a film that challenges the normal conventions of blockbuster films, especially one that is willing to put its weight on the shoulders of a female lead. Bullock doesn’t bow under the burden for even a moment. She carries it elegantly, with such strength and courage it seems weightless.

The Bone Season Promise

Every once in a while there is excitement for a new book akin to a much awaited blockbuster. It promises to change your life, or at least enrich it. There was no greater literary enthusiasm than before the release of the last few installments of Harry Potter’s adventures. To declare a new book the next Harry Potter, and its author parallel to the greatly loved J.K. Rowling, is promising the reader the moon, the stars, and all the heavens light years away.

When the to-be seven-volume series of The Bone Season was heralded as the filler of the void the end of Potter had left us with, the promise was so supernaturally great that, despite the plot’s supernatural thread, there was no way it could reach Potter-levels of acclaim. And with only book one available for consumption so far, it’s impossible to compare it to a completed series; it’s like calling a TV show the next Friends during the pilot episode. (Even Friends wasn’t Friends during its pilot episode. ) The Bone Season, as it stands now, is not the next Harry Potter.

 

It is though, an awesome book. Samantha Shannon has created a visceral alternative world in The Bone Season, one where clairvoyants of varying talents and skills live in the criminal underworld of Scion London. Full of rich, multilayered characters that are just begging for Benedict Cumberbatch to play at least one of them in the movie version, Shannon’s tale is told from the perspective of 19 year old Paige Mahoney. Paige is perhaps the most complex character of the bunch, as her past slowly unweaves for us to see. Yet it’s her future that both she and the reader are unsure of. It’s this tension that propels you from one page to the next.

Shannon is so comfortable with her world that at times the reader can get the details confused. There’s even a diagram at the beginning of the book to help the reader recall different classifications and skills. Unlike Harry being on the same footing as the reader when it came to his new reality, Paige grew up in a world where clairvoyants are outlaws. There’s no reason for another character to walk the main character/reader through the new world. In The Bone Season you start off running and don’t really stop.  But it’s okay if the details blur a bit; the plot is focused enough that the reader won’t trip.

 

Ignore the promise of its hype and instead focus on the promise within its own pages  – stay with me, see where I go, and even though it won’t be on the Hogwarts Express, it’s still going to be a hell of a trip. After all, if Paige Mahoney had been a student at Hogwarts, I’m pretty sure she would have been hanging out with Fred and George. And let’s face it, their story was just as awesome as Harry, Hermione and Ron’s.

Honest Orange Is The New Black

Summer is the season of blockbusters, beach reads and scripted reality shows. This year the sun shone bright, and sadly, many of the summer’s offerings gave off a harsh glare. But there were a few diamonds in the rough, some real gems that sparkled amongst the gaudy rocks.  Unfortunately though, a lot of them lacked female gravitas. The list of good television shows, great movies and amazing reads were heavy on male protagonists, antagonists, and soul-searching sidekicks.

Yet tucked away, practically hidden on Netflix’s streaming service, was not only one of the summer’s best contributions, but perhaps one of the best shows of the year: Orange Is The New Black.

The title kind of sounds like a chick-lit novel from the 90s. In many ways the main character, Piper Chapman, is coming from the pages of such a novel. After years of floundering from one thing to the other, she’s finally got her man and is beginning a career she not only loves but excels at.

Only Piper’s been ripped from the picture-perfect ending of a hot pink covered novel and has been thrust into the khaki and grey world of women’s federal prison. Her fifteen month sentence is the result of her previously questionable life.

Orange Is The New Black walks the precarious line of comedic drama, never tipping fully onto one side or the other. Not only is it brutally honest in its depiction of life in prison, but it’s emotionally truthful about the vulnerability of these trapped women.

The honesty of the show is what is truly inspiring about this series. These women are not perfect, obviously, and it’s shown. But neither are they monsters. As one female corrections officer says to Piper: “The only difference between us is when I made bad decisions in life, I didn’t get caught. It could have been me here in khaki, easy.”

The show is so rich in complex, heroic, and tragic characters it’s almost gluttonous to watch. The viewer can find themselves hating and then rooting for a character within minutes of one flashback. These women sometimes feel more real than women you know in your own life, because they are stripped raw, every beautifully flawed facet held up to catch the light.  Unlike most Hollywood depictions of women, these ladies run the spectrum of what it means to be female. They are smart, scared, vain, desperate, proud, hurt, selfish, foolish, impenetrable, sacrificing, and fearless. But primarily they are strong, pushing on each day to find a way to keep living, to make the most of their life despite their confinement. They are not only a tale of warning, but a tale of perseverance.

Orphan Black – Saving Your Summer

So far, this summer feels… well, empty. Empty of strong, relatable female characters; characters with dimension and depth.

Luckily this spring gave us something to hold us over.

Orphan Black is a BBC America show that is both mind-numbing and awe-inspiring in scope and realism. With the DVD/Blu Ray on sale in a few weeks, I dare you to just watch one episode at a time. It’s impossible to do, nearly as impossible as it is to talk about the show without giving anything away.

But I’ll try.

Orphan Black starts out as the story of a young mother/con artist, Sarah, trying to get her life together for her daughter and foster brother. Sarah sees an opportunity to put her plan into action, and throughout all the crazy twists and turns she holds on to that plan like a life vest.  While it’s never explored, it’s clear that Sarah is struggling to come out of the shadows. Despite her dark past, Sarah tries to do the right thing – for her daughter, her family and herself. Sarah is brave and smart enough to know that the right thing usually looks like the wrong thing on the surface, but she fights on, never giving up, even when the battle gets too murky to see.

Sarah is played by Tatiana Maslany, an actress whose range reaches out to infinity. Maslany plays several roles, each one to such perfection that you completely forget that it is the same woman behind each one. You find yourself hating her and loving her in the same scene, forgetting that Maslany is pretty much 80% of the show’s cast. Each character is fully formed and distinctive, even when they are impersonating one another (I told you, mind-numbing).

There are several amazing aspects of this show: its concept, tightly woven plot, exceptional acting and fast-paced action to name a few. But what really grips you is that the central characters, played by the same actress, are all female. They are mothers, daughters, scientists, police officers, housewives and damaged souls. But they are all strong women fighting against forces and circumstances beyond their control. They fight together for their own reasons, but they are all fighting against the same thing: to not be controlled and owned.

Orphan Black is a relentless thriller with a heart and soul. The only negative aspect of the show was that the season was only 10 episodes long. But those 10 episodes were more exciting and tighter than nearly any summer blockbuster.

Elementary’s Dear Watson

Many believe, especially in the uber-geek world, that no show or movie based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved character Sherlock Holmes can hold a candle to the BBC’s Sherlock, helmed by Mark Gatiss and Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, Sherlock is a clever, captivating and, at times, shocking show. But, for all its genius, it’s also a rather short show. With only three episodes per season and only two seasons having aired so far, Sherlock doesn’t come close to the number of mysteries solved by its American counterpart, CBS’s Elementary.

 

Although counterpart might not be the best word to describe the two shows. While they both focus on a modern day Holmes, it’s really there that their similarities end. Elementary follows the usual case-of-the-week format as the other popular crime shows out there. But it stands apart, both from the crime shows and Sherlock, with its strong female characters.

First you have Dr. Joan Watson – a change from the standard male sidekick, John Watson. It was a switch that many speculated was purely for attention and doubted could be pulled off.

A sidekick is often a device used to bring the audience up to speed; their ignorance reflects our own. The lead’s ability to teach his friend is the writer’s way of making sure we are all keeping up on the clues that have been laid out for us. A sidekick is often someone more tangible than the great hero, and provides the audience eyes into the soul of the main character. But once we see the hero the way the sidekick does, once we know the method of the show, the sidekick becomes collateral damage – often only staying relevant by getting themselves into countless trouble the hero must (obviously) save them from.

 

In Elementary, elements of the sidekick are dispersed amongst several characters, and the hero role is shared. Sure, Sherlock Holmes will always be the hero, but in Elementary, so is Watson. Played by Lucy Liu, who somehow makes every character she portrays equally strong and graceful, Elementary’s Watson isn’t awestruck or even a bit bumbling. She is a woman coming into her own. After several attempts to apply her talents, first as a surgeon, then as a sober companion, Watson has found a place where she truly shines.

She is the student to Holmes’s teacher, but she is not naïve nor untested. Her skills not only aid but, at times, surpass Holmes’s brilliant mind. She balances him out, yes. Takes care of him, absolutely. But she is never less than him. They are Holmes and Watson, a unit that is weakened should one be removed.

 

Joan Watson’s strength and presence on screen is matched by Holmes’ other femme fatale, Irene Adler. In other incarnations, Adler has been little more than a tease. In Elementary, she is Holmes’s heart’s desire and his mind’s worst enemy. It’s hard to write about Irene without giving too much away. So, treading carefully here, I will say that I love what they did with Irene’s character; how she and Holmes are  different sides of the same coin. No one could have been better at pulling this off than Game of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer. It was a perfectly cast and perfectly written character. I can only hope we see her next season, as there seems more to discover about this woman than even Sherlock Holmes himself could uncover. I have no doubt though, that Holmes and Watson will unravel Adler’s mystery. And with more than three episodes a season, Elementary will have the time to explore this “case of identity.”

Star Trek Into Darkness: The Hot Blonde Destabilizer

No matter the timeline, at the heart of Star Trek there was, and always will be, a tale of an epic and unlikely bromance between the go-by-your-gut Kirk and the logic-seeking Spock. The crew of the Enterprise was set long ago with males in the majority. 2009’s reboot could only swerve so far from the original, but it did an excellent job of taking the only leading female crew member, Uhura, and making her integral to the story.

 

Now with the reboot’s sequel in theaters, Star Trek Into Darkness has another female character to introduce onto the bridge of the most famous ship to patrol the stars. Not wanting to give too much away, I won’t tell you Alice Eve’s character’s name. But it’s no big deal if you don’t know it, considering her character was so unformed that I’m surprised they bothered to give her a name at all. Before spoilers leaked out I’m sure she was just labeled ‘hot blonde,’ and sadly, that’s all she really was. You could tell Eve was trying, but this movie is sci-fi, not fantasy, so she couldn’t work any magic.

A lot of people are upset with Eve’s underwear scene. Revealed in one of the first trailers, it promised to be an act of pandering. A similar scene appeared in the 2009 film, but at least then it was meant to be humorous. This time around though, the filmmakers didn’t even bother to give it a context. Alice Eve in her what I can only assume were Star Fleet-issued panties, made no sense. Why did she have to change? And why right then as she’s telling Kirk about the friend he jilted? Was it flirting? Revenge? What? Give me something! Sadly, it had no point. Which I know is not new in cinema; the hot girl in her underwear is right up there with the built guy randomly taking his shirt off. But movies that use the titillating device of nearly naked hot actors/actresses aren’t supposed to be in the same league as Star Trek. Star Trek is supposed to be a galaxy above.

 

Contrary to what others are saying on Twitter, I don’t think the scene was misogynistic. I think it was just lazy. Kirk is known for being a womanizer; this was their attempt to show it. Here’s a hint for next time, boys: the conversation would have been enough.

It’s obvious throughout the movie that the filmmakers really didn’t know what to do with Eve’s character. They just kind of threw her on board because she was supposed to be around, and hoped she was appealing enough that we would overlook her total lack of usefulness. But this is a character that is supposed to be a genius and a match for Kirk. There were so many things they could have done with the character

to make not only her, but the plot, more interesting. It was a huge missed opportunity.

It was so disappointing. Made all the more so, because the rest of the film was a blast. Sure, there were some aspects for which you had to suspend disbelief and go along for the ride. But it was a hell of a ride.

So for the next one, have a streaker run across the medical bay if you want, just give the character a reason for doing it. A reason that fits like a small puzzle piece into the plot. And keep in mind, if your cast is low on women, make the females on screen count. Make them so poignant that you don’t need anyone else in the skirted uniform.

Iron Man 3: Pepper Needs Some Zest

Iron Man 3 was fun. It had all the elements of a great super hero movie – humor, a plot twist, and a weakened hero that finds the strength to rise up out of his personal darkness and defeat the bad guys at just the right moment. There was just one problem. One nagging negative throughout the sure-to-be blockbuster: Pepper Potts.

 

She’s never had much to do in the Iron Man movies, and perhaps even less in last summer’s Avengers, but somehow Pepper always seemed to give off an air of intelligence and strength. She was able to match and often win against Tony Stark’s sarcastic jibes. One of her first lines — “including occasionally taking out the trash” — seemed to sum up her character. She was a ballbuster who did the job better than anyone else could. She was in all respects Tony’s match, just without the overblown ego and superhero toys.

 

But once promoted to full-on love interest, Pepper seemed to lose all that she had projected in her first three appearances. In Iron Man 3, she came off as weak, needy and a little insensitive. I just didn’t buy that her character would be, well, such a nag. Her boyfriend almost died defeating aliens; I think the old Pepper would have not only cut Tony some slack, but would have helped him through it. Instead, the story treated Pepper like she was the new girl on the block for this movie’s go-around. As if she hadn’t been there throughout, as if she didn’t know Tony or how to handle his world. It stank of character inconsistency. In truth, Pepper could not only handle his world; she helped create it.

Gwyneth Paltrow did the best she could with what she was given, but even the Oscar winner couldn’t save Pepper from the plot. A plot in which she was tied up scantily clad for a good portion of the movie. I guess this was to show Paltrow’s superhero-like abs. Which made it even harder to believe that a women with a core so solid could be so easily taken down and then strung up.

There were moments that showed some promise. Pepper did get to save Tony a few times, but it was never in the fashion that was really fitting for a superhero movie. And even at the end, (spoiler) when Pepper has her own superpower, she came across as weak and afraid.

 

The film was overall very good. I just wish Pepper had some more zest in this one. My fingers are crossed that astrophysicist Jane Foster won’t suddenly become a ditz in the Autumn release of Thor: The Dark World. And maybe by the time Avengers 2 rolls around, the old Pepper will be back and (please! please!) with some superhuman traits of her own.

Bringing Her Dragons: Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targeryen

Let’s be honest, Game of Thrones is not for anyone with a weak stomach. Being on a cable network allows for its naked brutality (and since it’s on HBO, the keyword is naked). The harsh reality of the Seven Kingdoms is often depicted in gory detail, with things only being discussed as occurring off-screen when the budget demands it.

In this fantasy world, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s widely successful fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, the brutal conditions do not allow for such luxuries as loyalty, kindness, selflessness and virtue. In this world, those things will get you killed or perhaps worse, enslaved. The show is true to its title: in order to survive you must play the game; lie, cheat, steal, and when you are through, somehow get everyone to love you, not in spite of your sins, but because of them.

The series gave us only two main characters that were uncorrupted. The first, Ned Stark, literally lost his head trying to maintain his gallantry. The second, Daenerys ‘Dany’ Targaryen, is still struggling to play the game.

The audience was first introduced to Dany through her twisted, throne-hungry brother. At the start, she was nothing more than a silver-blonde pawn to be moved where her brother needed her.  But Dany was capable of doing what so few of the characters in the show are; she was able to connect with someone else. In this case the connection was with her husband – making him see her as a person to be loved and not a thing to own. Through that love, she helped her brother get the deadly crown he so richly deserved.

Of course, winter seems to be coming for everyone, and Dany met hers shortly after an act of kindness towards a witch left her cursed. It was a turning point for the would-be-queen as she learned that, like her brother, not everyone is deserving of her compassion. At this point it would have been understandable for Dany’s heart to harden; instead her resolve became stronger, and she was literally able to walk through fire.

There have been moments, especially last season, where Dany seemed to be drifting. She is, after all, a woman who spent the majority of her life in exile at the hands of a guardian who only saw her as an object to use to barter for more power. Her experience of the world was so little before becoming so immense in such a short period of time. It’s understandable that she wouldn’t know where to put her foot down next, but still she pushed forward.

In this season, currently airing every Sunday night, Dany is no longer drifting. She is calculating, planning and charging ahead towards her birthright. And best of all, in this world filled with corrupt, weak souls, Dany is doing things her way. Nothing better illustrated this than last Sunday’s episode, And Now His Watch Is Ended.

Dany was told repeatedly by her almost-becoming-useless-now advisor that she needed an army. But the only soldiers that would follow her were those that had to be bought. While nearly everyone else fighting for the crown would be more than happy to hand over the cash, owning slaves forced to fight for her was not the kind of leader Dany wanted to be. So Dany decided to play the game.

Not wanting to spoil anything for those still desperately catching up to the DVR, I will only say that in this world of deceit and corruption, the epic moment Dany brought about was both refreshing and satisfying. In this brilliant scene, Dany proved that not only can she play the game better than her male counterparts, she can do it without sacrificing her values or her soul in the process.

In this game the rules say you can only win by losing everything that once mattered. Daenerys Targaryen is making her own rules, and bringing her dragons to enforce them.

The Mystery of Veronica Mars

To call the Veronica Mars kickstarter campaign a success is a huge understatement. With one week still left to go, they have more than doubled their goal and are now reaching for the record of most backers.

So what is it about this three season show that caused such a connection that fans are willing to dig into their own pockets to bring the petite blonde private investigator onto the big screen?

With subplots within subplots, this case of the week (with a larger mystery playing throughout each season) series had intelligent storytelling, pop culture humor and a glossy shine that was both compelling and addictive. Veronica Mars the show was worth turning on. Veronica Mars the character, played by the sloth-loving Kristen Bell, is what made the show so hard to turn off. At the end of every episode, you were left wanting more. Like a bag of chips you couldn’t just handle one. Don’t believe me? Start watching the series again. If you can bear to watch it one episode a week like you were forced to when it first aired and DVRs weren’t so readily available, you are a stronger woman than I.

The series started with a junior in high school, who had just suffered through one of  the worst sophomore  years a person could have. Instead of transferring or opting for home school, Veronica heads back into Neptune High with her armor fully fastened, ready to protect and attack. What is so compelling about Veronica is that despite her clever observations and quick sarcasm she is not flawless. She’s sometimes wrong, puts herself in danger and is a bit on the selfish side. None of her flaws are born out of cruelty or even arrogance though, just her inexperience. Which is, for a television show focused around wealthy teenagers, shockingly honest.

When put in extreme circumstances Veronica acts not like your typical hero – laughing it off – but like the rest of us would. She gets scared, she even cries. But unlike most people, she doesn’t let it stop her from doing what needs to be done. She never stops uncovering the truth, setting herself and others free by  shining a light on what has been expertly hidden in the darkness.

Veronica Mars gave us an intelligent television show that was fun to watch and, despite its extreme circumstances and setting, easy to relate to. Veronica wasn’t just the friend you wished you had; she was someone you would want to be. Her moral guidelines were not impossible to achieve, but they were difficult to maintain, even for Veronica herself. What was truly inspiring about the character was that no matter the difficulty, it never stopped her from trying to stick to what she knew was right.

What the movie will give us is anyone’s guess. Hopefully lots of co-stars that we loved or loved to hate. But most importantly, let’s hope there’s a Veronica that, even with more experience and better judgement, is still relatable.

Days of Blood & Starlight: Blessed With Gifts Throughout

No one can sum up the premise of Days of Blood & Starlight like its main character, Karou:

“You know how, at the end of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet wakes up in the crypt and Romeo’s already dead… Well, imagine if she woke up and he was still alive, but … he had killed her whole family. And burned her city. And killed and enslaved her people.”

Laini Taylor’s sequel to Daughter of Smoke & Bone is much more than a twisted love story though. It’s about a young woman discovering her past, overcoming the present and building something for the future. What makes it so different from other fantasy stories is that while the love between Karou and her Romeo, Akiva, is intense, it is not the drive of the story; it is merely the match that ignited a blaze.

 

It’s this fire that Karou must now try to control.

 

There are moments in the story, I suppose one could call them Karou’s dark period, where the feisty, powerful Karou is a shadow of herself. As a reader, it’s frustrating to watch the hero succumb to the horror around her, but at the same time it makes Karou more real. She has lost everything, can trust no one and has only a vague sense of hope that she feels is foolish. It’s only when she’s reminded of who she is and faced with the brutal truth of what she must do in order to keep that hope alive that Karou returns, slightly damaged – but all the stronger for it.

 

The worlds Laini Taylor has created in these two books are breathtaking, intricate and visceral. Her characters feel more real (horns and all) than most people. Her greatest accomplishment is that despite being the middle book of a trilogy, it is a complete story. Sure there is more to unfold, but unlike most sequels, the ending gives a certain satisfaction that many middle books lack. Of course if the third book were available I would have picked it up after the last word of the second book, but the wait for the to-be-continued isn’t as torturous as it could have been. Taylor gives her readers a gift with the ending.

 

In fact the book, which at times is quite dark, is blessed with gifts throughout. The first of which are Karou’s friend, one of the absolutely best supporting characters ever, Zuzana, and Zuzana’s boyfriend, one of the best boyfriends in literature, Mik. Then there is the jump in perspectives, giving Taylor’s tale a tangible quality that simultaneously fills us with joy and breaks our hearts. No perspective is more bittersweet, though, than that of Akiva. It’s like if your two best friends broke up; you just can’t choose sides, all you can do is hope that they both find the redemption they are desperately seeking for together.

 

Another gift is just the writing itself. Beyond the great names and the amazing creatures is the poetry in Taylor’s words.

 

All that in the middle book of a trilogy, historically the weakest link in storytelling. Perhaps the magic on the page isn’t Karou’s, but Taylor’s.