Intelligible Television: Holy Psych! Was that a good episode or what?
August 30, 2009 at 12:22 pm | In Entertainment, Intelligible Television, Shows, Television, Uncategorized | Leave a CommentTags: comedy, Devils in the deatils and the Upstairs bedroom, Dule Hill, James Roday, Maggie Lawson, Psych, Ray Wise, Reaper, Run Lola Run, Television, The Exorcist, Tim Omundson, When Harry Met Sally
- Psych does an Exorcist
‘Psych’ is back to its roots with this one. Funny lines galore, crisp editing and a fast paced storyline. It’s a throwback to the hay days of Season 2 in some ways, where characters simply had fun jumping from one procedural to the next and the emotional stuff didn’t seem to get in the way.
‘The Devil’s in the Details… and the Upstairs Bedroom’ is the latest in line of Psych’s homages to popular culture and its the cult movie, ‘The Exorcist’ which makes for fodder this time. Gus (Dule Hill) and a reluctant, skeptic Shawn (James Roday) investigate a case of demonic posession at a Catholic university for their former Sunday School teacher, Father Weley played by Ray Wise.
This episode wins for showcasing one of the best guest star performances of all time. Ray Wise who played the slick and charming Devil himself in(the brilliant at first and then got really weird) ‘Reaper’, plays a man of God with the same panache and smoothness. His complete conviction in his beliefs is wonderfully balanced by his easy nature. A moment in case, where he jokes about how he likes to start every exorcism with a bit of humour.
The bit with Henry (Corbin Bernson) getting obsessed with Shawn’s Xbox was funny enough. The banter between Shawn and Gus was in full form with a full-fledged cat fight thrown into the mix. Since I haven’t seen ‘The Exorcist’, I am not sure how good or bad it was in spoofing it. But independent of that,the whole gig was very cleverly done, complete with the whole ‘tounges’ and ’spiderwalking’ cliches of posession. There were many other singular funny moments in the show like the running jingle joke, and the digs at FaceBook. It should probably be weird that one episode makes so many unconnected references like talking about ‘Run Lola Run’ and ‘When Harry met Sally’ in a take on ‘The Exorcist’, but ‘Psych’ always manges to do it successfully.
Intelligible Television: It’s Saddles and Spurs on Psych
August 26, 2009 at 10:58 pm | In Entertainment, Intelligible Television, Shows, Television | 2 CommentsTags: civil war, Dule Hill, high noon-ish, james brolin, James Roday, Maggie Lawson, Psych, season one, season theree, Tim Omundson, USA network, western
Shawn goes cowboy in High Noon-ish.
The good thing about Psych is that it has a flexible range of operation. So if anyone could actually do a Western theme and pull it off, it would be these guys. Its one of the few shows where you can be watching and go, “You know what I’d like them to do sometime…” and you wouldn’t be surprised to actually see that on screen the next season.
High Noon-ish finds Shawn (James Roday) and Gus ( Dule Hill) investigating vandalism in Old Sonora, a tourist trap Western town for Lassiter (Tim Omundson) who has a sentimental attachment to the town and its ‘Sheriff’ (James Brolin). Their investigation leads them to a number of complications including a dead realtor millionaire, crumbling buildings, underground mines and a legendary ghost wrangler.
This episode manages to do many things successfully. It gives James Roday fans the chance to see him cowboy up, thrown in an Eastwood accent, ride a horse and generally be his funny, awesome self while Spanish guitar plays in the background. This episode has been shot in great lighting. Sepia tones and mellow lighting used in the episode integrate the look and feel of the cult spaghetti westerns. Some of the funnier moments include, the signature standoff gun sequence in the climax between Lassiter and the bad guy and the one where the wooden wall comes falling down upon Shawn and Gus.
It also sheds light on Lassiter’s childhood allowing fans of this snarky, stiff cop to get a glimpse of what makes him that way. The scene when Lassiter has to arrest Sheriff Hank, a man whom he considers a father figure is well played, giving the character the rare occasion to deal with emotions. Juliet (Maggie Lawson) though continues to be underutilized, and I do hope that she has stronger storylines in the up coming episodes. I would hate to think that she gets sidelined because she is no longer (though that wink from Shawn and the subsequent smile says otherwise) the love interest.
To me one of the more interesting exchanges on the episode was a minor one, but a significant one nonetheless. Its right in the beginning when Shawn and Gus are sitting by the camp fire, and Shawn launches off into a nostalgia for the past. Gus retorts by saying that the former’s people have a much more affectionate memory of this period of history than his. I have always admired the way Psych engages with the subject of race in very subtle and very funny ways, the previous one being the Civil War Episode, way back in Season One where Gus aptly questions Shawn on what role he would play in the re enactment.
Intelligible Television:TV’s most annoying characters, The Hit List
August 17, 2009 at 6:58 pm | In Entertainment, Intelligible Television, Media, Shows, Television | Leave a CommentTags: 90210, According to Jim, Bones, Gossip Girl, Sookie Stackhouse, The Big Bang Theory, True Blood
Ever felt like strangling someone from TV? I do loads of times. Some characters get to us. They bother us in ways that real people can. You pray for that accident or season finale that sends them packing. If they happen to be in a show you like, well then that’s doubly difficult because you have no choice but to watch them, week after week, invading your peace. Here are a few I think are particularly annoying. Some from shows I love, and some well I thankfully couldn’t care less about.
Before you begin… those of you kind enough to be reading this kindly put your pitchforks and daggers down should you come across someone you like in this article. This is NOT representative of anything or anyone’s opinion save mine. If you have a list like mine, share it here and find the same therapeutic experience that I am looking for.
Sookie Stackhouse, True Blood: It’s bitter-sweet to watch Anna Paquin do such a good job, portraying Sookie. She gets the nuances and the traits spot on and credit goes to her for playing the small town Southern belle so well. But all of it gets so very lost on me, by the fact that I have never come across a more vapid, emotionally inconsistent and ditzy fictional character. She has the attention span of an eight year old and zero sense of self-preservation .I am hard pressed to believe that this simpering, complaining, telepathic mess of a girl is the object of desire of not one but two very sexy vampires.
Temperance Brennan, Bones: Great intellect is apparently no guarantee that you won’t be obnoxious and insufferable. While social ineptness combined with disinterest in regular human activities, works so well for Sheldon in The Big Bang Theoryit only seems to make Brennan a snob without cause. While I have nothing against smart people and their awareness of their abilities, Brennan’s conceit seems baseless for the most part. The character is insulting to anyone who doesn’t confirm with her beliefs, looks down upon the rest of society and justifies it with highly suspect logic. If it weren’t for the rest of the funny and quirky characters and solid story-lines, I don’t think I could stand watching this show.
Jim, According to Jim:Abrasive but lovable suburban father? Really! The whole regular guy meme is a sitcom favorite .The guy who loves his family but is far from the ideal father, who is not above resorting to some amount of lying and deception to smoothen things. Who won’t take art classes or know about poetry. When handled well, it can give you an Everybody Loves Raymond. When pushed over the top like with Jim’s character it borders on sexism , is offensive and plain unfunny.
The ensemble of Gossip Girl: If I could differentiate one manipulative, self-absorbed, back-stabbing teenage brat from the other, I would maybe list their names. But any time I see them on the screen, they’re just one big designer clad blur. By the time I make out who’s screwing whom over, I’ve usually lost interest or changed to 90210 and haven’t realized it yet.
Marissa Cooper, The O.C.: The rich have issues. We get that. There is no need to plague one girl with every problem from the troubled teenager’s manual. Lacking any originality or substance, Marissa will perhaps go down in history as the worst walking clich� of the poor little rich girl.
Intelligible Television: Sometimes, Good Shows Have Bad Days
August 16, 2009 at 1:58 pm | In Entertainment, Intelligible Television, Media, Shows | 3 Comments
Rachael Leigh Cook guest stars as Shawn's girlfriend in He Dead
I was at a class trip all day yesterday and came back at at around half past midnight. Unfortunately my faithful torrent client failed to run the auto download I’d set up on the RSS feed which I’d set on both my laptop and desktop so that there wouldn’t be such a break-down. But since, technology screwed me over anyway I had to wait an extra half an hour for the download to get done to finally watch this week’s episode of Psych.
My verdict: I could have probably waited till morning. This wasn’t the best episode and If I had to be harsh, it barely made it to being a good one. ‘He Dead’ finds Shawn ( James Roday) and Gus (Dule Hill) entering the world of the rich and their clichés. Christine Baranski guest stars as a billionaire hedge fund manager’s widow who dies in a mysterious plane crash but only after he extracts a promise from Shawn to find out who killed him. Hilarity unfolds as usual as Shawn stumbles upon the signature skeletons in the double door walk in closets of the rich- affairs, scandals, estranged children, white collar crime… the works in efforts to find the murderer.
While the crime plot was interesting and fun there were too many issues I had with the episode to make me a fan, the first of them being the criminal under utilization of Lassie (Tim Omundosn) and Jules (Maggie Lawson). They had like three lines…combined which while I understood were the compulsions of the script is something that bugged me. Thank God for the totally kickass, ATV/bike (I don’t know what you call them) scene, or I would have been very unhappy.
Coming to this season’s endeavor at exploring Shawn’s love life and complication with the presence of his high school sweetheart Abigail (Rachael Leigh Cook), this episode did not impress me and none of it had anything to do with the fact that I root for Shawn and Jules. In the past, efforts at addressing some of the issues in Shawn’s life, which he does have plenty of has usually been very well executed considering the small ratio of time it’s awarded in proportion to the mystery solving part of the show. But this time, there was a lot left to be desired. While I do have my own biases about the whole Shawn and Abigail situation (duh!). Objectively, I didn’t think much of her presence on the show in this episode. The earlier chemistry from ‘Murder, Anyone, Anyone…Bueller’ and ‘An Evening with Mr.Yang’ was simply missing between the two characters due to no fault to the actors who played them. Where are the clever lines and the comebacks people? Relationship Shawn is kind of boring and suddenly I think I see the wisdom in the decision of the powers that be to keep Shawn and Jules apart. If this is the way they should behave in a relationship, I wouldn’t want them getting together too.
Regarding what Abigail did about meeting Henry ( Corbin Bernson) behind Shawn’s back, I cannot say I approve. One for the obvious reason that it was clearly not her place. But then she’s dating Shawn and since Shawn would so do something like that and we would clearly enjoy it a lot, It would be hypocritical of me to judge her. But my lament is that it killed what could have been perhaps a very funny and entertaining introductory meeting between the three characters. Instead we see this bland coffee meeting between two characters without any of the context. Similarly the dinner scene too turned out to be this highly uncomfortable thing but not in a good way. The context once again was missing. It is understandable that it is difficult to squeeze in a personal storyline in a procedural, but this whole thing just felt forced and flat even though it was an interesting premise that held potential. I am glad that this wasn’t selected for the season premiere. I would have been disappointed.
Talking Movies: Vintage Celluloid
August 9, 2009 at 5:39 pm | In Entertainment, Society, Talking Movies, Uncategorized | Leave a CommentTags: audience, depression, hollywood, Jeff Daniels, Mia Farrow, movie, Purple Rose of Cairo, Woody Allen
Purple Rose of Cairo: Blurring the lines betwen fiction and life
‘The Purple Rose of Cairo’ has got to be one of the charming movies I’ve ever come across. It’s quaint flow and child-like simplicity can easily lull us into thinking of it like yet another romantic comedy. But ‘Purple Rose…’ is much like a warm breeze, that floats about unobtrusively and yet you can’t feel unaffected by it.
Directed by Woody Allen in a deceptively simple and comedic narrative, the movies tells the story of Cecilia played by Mia Farrow, a working class woman in an unhappy and abusive marriage who finds respite from the depression and grueling life in the glamorous movies that she watches every week at the local theatre. The more real life presses upon her, the more she escapes into the soothing darkness of talkies. It is during her fifth viewing of ‘The Purple Rose of Cairo’ that a character from the movie Tom played by Jeff Daniels jumps out of the movie screen claiming to have fallen in love with her. While panic ensues all around, Cecilia spends a day out of the dreams with Tom. Meanwhile, Gil Sheppard, the actor who plays the character of Tom runs into Cecilia in the hopes of finding his errant on-screen alter ego and bringing him back. An odd love triangle follows with both the actor and the character having fallen for her forcing Cecilia to choose while having to contend with her irate husband ( Danny Aiello)
‘The Purple Rose of Cairo’ explores some interesting themes. It breaks the fourth wall both ways by having Tom travel into the real world and also Cecilia going into the movie. The other characters in the movies, find themselves lost without the presence of Tom and the momentum of the script to keep them going. They end up arguing with the audience, jumping into each other’s scenes and going off-page. The movie made in 1985 is set in the era of the depression. The starkness of the country and Cecilia’s own conditions forms a bleak contrast to the glamorous movies that she likes to lose herself in. This lends a bitter-sweet tone to the movie where while one is amused at the premise of the storyline it becomes evident that it isn’t quite a fairy tale romance. This further gets elucidated in the way that Tom fails to understand real world problems like lack of money or jobs.
The perfection of cinema that is seen on screen is juxtaposed with the selfish and egoistic side of Hollywood. Tom, the on-screen character is sweet, considerate and devoted to Cecelia while the actor who plays him is self-absorbed and arrogant. Even though he’s perfect for her, Tom’s naivety leads Cecilia to choose Gil Sheppard on account that he was from the real world. A choice she regrets in the end when she leaves home to go away to Hollywood with him only to find he’s left without her. The climax finds Cecilia alone in the theatre watching yet another movie after which she would most likely return to her abusive husband.
Intelligible Television: Why ‘Psych’ is Awesome..Period!
August 8, 2009 at 10:43 pm | In Entertainment, Intelligible Television, Shows, Television, Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: Cary Elwes, Dule Hill, Extradition: British Columbia, James Roday, Maggie Lawson, Psych, season premiere, Steve Franks, Tim Omundson, USA network
Shawn and Gus chase after an elusive art thief in the 4th season premiere of Psych
Sometimes, I am extremely tempted to make my blog all about television. It’s so much fun to write about and strangely therapeutic. It takes all the fan-girlishness out of me and channels it into something a bit more structured and coherent. And when my obsession with a show reaches the disturbing levels as it has with ‘Psych’, I almost think it’s necessary to express it in a way that is more than random squealing.
If you don’t already know, ‘Psych’ which airs on USA network is a dramedy about Shawn: a slacker with photographic memory and keen observation who pretends to be a psychic and solves cases along with his friend Gus. While it might be only be the zillionth procedural you don’t watch Psych for the mystery. Not really. You watch it for the absurd and hilarious shenanigans, for the best bromance to have ever been seen on TV after ‘Scrubs’, for obscure Eighties references and for writing of a level that is brilliant and slapstick at the same time.
So after what seemed like forever (to me and my Twitter buddies. I am pretty sure the six month time space continuum passed pretty much like six months for the rest of the universe), the quirky crime-fighting duo of Shawn and Gus finally made it back on our screens for the fourth season. But not from sunny Santa Barbara where the show is set at , but the snowy peaks of British Columbia, Canada. The season premiere titled ‘Extradition : British Columbia’ finds Shawn ( James Roday) and Gus ( Dule Hill) off to a ski vacation in Whistler which gets disrupted with an international art thief , Pierre Despereux played by Cary Elwes of ‘The Princess Bride’ fame showing up in town whom Shawn recognizes from Lassiter’s wall of most wanted. Pretending to be Head Detective to solicit the local police’s help, Shawn attempts to nab Despereux with Lassiter (Tim Omundson) and Juliet (Maggie Lawson) flying down to assist. What follows is an entertaining forty minutes complete with a dig at the ’The Mentalist’, the standard Canada joke or two, talking to raccoons, An ‘Entrapment’ laser spoof and some less than stellar skiing on part of the guys all of which is rounded off nicely with an adorable, aww worthy non-date between Shawn and Jules.
Lassiter’s frustration at not being able to have a gun and exude his usual authority, being out of his jurisdiction is amusing as is Cary Elwes’ portrayal of the gentleman criminal as he speaks in clipped tones and wears designer loafers. As fans of the show would know, the show is actually filmed in Vancouver where it does a decent job of masquerading as being set in California. With the need to pretend obviously not there in this particular episode, panoramic shots of popular tourist destination like the Capilano Bridge and Stanley Park and the city skyline have been added gleefully for the simple fact that they can be shown.
As far as season premieres go, even without the staple dead body, ‘Extradition: British Columbia’ doesn’t disappoint. It delivers it’s signature blend of humor and wit while successfully addressing some of the developments in Season 3 namely Shawn’s attempts at rekindling romance with high school crush Abigail (Rachael Leigh Cook) and the interesting twist it has for the Shawn and Juliet storyline. Season 4 finds the fake psychic attempting to negotiate a fledgling relationship with Abigail while reconciling with the abruptly changed dynamic of his little more than friendship with Juliet. Roday brings out some unseen nuances to the character of Shawn as he awkwardly and endearingly fumbles through conversations wiht Juliet before oh so sweetly proclaiming to refuse to be uncomfortable around her, because she means too much to him. Maggie Lawson too does well at keeping Juliet non-dramatic and composed. Episode writer and show creator Steve Franks thankfully keeps out any exaggerated heartbreak or pining from weighing in upon the lightness of the show. While I must admit, the shipper in me was less than thrilled about yanking the flirtatious element between the two characters, there is a new and heightened awareness of feelings for each other which is sure to lend to the depth of the show.
All in all, ‘Extradition..’ sets the tone perfectly for season ahead.
Discount Art for the Connoisseur in you
August 2, 2009 at 11:55 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentTags: abstract, Andhra Pradesh, art, artists, Daira, gallery, landscapes, objective
Art which is without boundaries: that is the idea behind ‘Daira’ explains Atika Amjad pointing out the open ended circle which comprises the logo and reminds us that our limitations are only as confining as we let them to be.
Started in 2001 by two sisters, Atika Amjad and Atya Amjad, Daira is an eight year old gallery that has become a fixture of Hyderabad’s cultural landscape. After a successful show earlier this year in March titled ‘Art in Object’ an innovative exhibit of how art can be functional, Daira brings for lovers of art, its latest project ‘The Nano Show’: A thirty day exhibit of one Ft by one Ft small format paintings by 23 artists priced at Rs 1000 each.
Inspired from the Tata Nano, the project seeks to make art more affordable and viable for all stake holders: the gallery, new artists and clients. “To make art a necessity and not a luxury.” proclaims Atika Amjad, owner of the Gallery. Gone are the days when one had to be familiar with the names of Rembrandt or Van Gogh to be considered worthy of appreciating art. While the ‘investment’ interest the market saw a couple of years ago may not be a stellar example, the changing aesthetics of the Indian middle class accompanied by the availability of disposable income has made collecting art more than a passion of the elite. Why then settle for generic prints and common place wall hanging when you can buy an original piece of art?
Atika Amjad who conceptualized the exhibit said the whole things were executed in less than two months. “We approached a few artists, mostly fresh out of college or in their final years. 23 artists from all over Andhra Pradesh have showcased their pieces. This is an ongoing project. More artists are going to be featured from Kerala, Delhi, Lucknow, Baroda etc. The profit will come from the volumes sold. So far the response has been over whelming.”
Atika is quick to point out that the reduced price has not meant a proportionate reduction of quality. “Artists were interviewed and selected on the basis of their future plans for personal growth. They were invited to come and discuss the works to be showcased.’
The exhibit is an eclectic mix of all styles brought together by the common thread of their small size format. From objective, abstract, landscapes, interior and exteriors to Indian ink and sculpture, the potential client has an array of work to choose from. The paintings again address several themes from ones as simple and lucid as memories of college to feminist interpretations on Indian ink by Swati K to a refreshing look at the city of Hyderabad in the works of Kota Lakhsmi Narayan. Over 70 % of the paintings have already been sold and some artists have even sold all twelve of their collection and have even come out with a second set of works to acquiesce popular demand.
Following this show which comes to an end on the 4th August, Daira will be presenting ‘Royal Dictate’ by artist Masuram Ravi Kant, a royalty theme event cum exhibition of works on the 6th of August, 2009.
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