Month: February 2014

The BarrometerA Barrometer rating of 4

Third-episode verdict: Rake (US) (Fox)

12 February 2014 Rob Buckley 9 Comments

In the US: Thursdays, 9/8c, Fox
In the UK: The Universal Channel.

Time to cast our eyes over the first three episodes of Rake, Fox’s lacklustre attempt to remake Australia’s popular show about a rogue lawyer who’s gone off the rails a bit (Richard Roxburgh as the eponymous Rake) by diluting it down to the point of non-existence and casting Greg Kinnear as the not-eponymous Keegan Deane. 

This is what it should look like:

This is what it actually looks like:

As a show, it just sort of exists. It’s not especially fun. It’s got almost nothing interesting to say about the legal system. Rake’s Deane’s flaws, including gambling addiction, aren’t really terrible and no one really does anything to him (goodies or baddies) as a result of the thefts, deceptions, etc, he commits, so they just seem like harmless quirks. Greg Kinnear is woefully miscast as Deane, not having the charm or ability to portray the darkness of character needed for the role.

So all it is is 40 minutes or so of Kinnear running around being mildly annoying to people, mildly unreliable and mildly incompetent as a lawyer. Despite the occasional guest actress (Alex Breckenridge in episode two) or guest star (Tony Hawks in episode thee) doing their best to enliven proceedings, they’re always better than the show itself and nothing about any regular aspect of the show makes you want to watch it, unless you’re desperate for a screen saver on your TV and can’t be bothered to stump up for one of those fireplace DVDs.

Avoid.

Barrometer rating: 4
Rob’s prediction: Will be cancelled before the end of the season

Charley says: Men – always use a condom

12 February 2014 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

Any feminist analysis of literature, particularly visual media such as TV, will usually end up invoking ‘the male gaze’ – that is, whether female characters are viewed through the prism of (heterosexual) male desires, concepts about women, etc, or whether there is a greater personal truth to them.

Of course, if you’re targeting an ad at heterosexual men that’s largely about their desires, the male gaze is something that’s going to crop up. Back in the 80s, when HIV/AIDS was a very worrying new disease, persuading men to use condoms for pretty much the first time in a generation was something that required a large-scale government health campaign – even if there was a chance they’d get AIDS and die if they didn’t.

So behold, the male gaze writ large. She’s hot (look!), she’s up for it (look!), but oh the horror if she asks you to stay the night!

Samuel L Jackson is not Laurence Fishburne

12 February 2014 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

Here’s what happens if you’re not properly prepared as a reporter. You get told that Samuel L Jackson featured in a Superbowl commercial (he did: for Captain America: Winter Soldier). But you don’t watch it and you don’t know what it was for.

You ask Samuel L Jackson about it. Samuel L Jackson has forgotten he’s in a Superbowl commercial. However, he remembers that Laurence Fishburne was in a Superbowl commercial. Both he and Laurence Fishburne often get stupid people mixing them up. In person.

Cue an extremely irritated Samuel L Jackson, although one who makes a lot of good points about racism in Hollywood and the entertainment industries.

Watch ‘that scene’ from Sunday’s True Detective

12 February 2014 Rob Buckley 6 Comments

Talking of directorial innovation in American TV, HBO/Sky Atlantic’s True Detective has progressively been turning into a ‘must see’ show. Episode four, which aired on Sunday in the US, included a particular directorial flourish that you can watch below: a six-minute long tracking shot, done as a single take. It’s pretty impressive to watch and shouldn’t spoil the story too much if you haven’t been watching and intend to – or if you have been watching but haven’t seen episode four yet.

It reminds me of Point Break‘s famous chase scene, which although not a tracking shot, gave a similar almost first-person view of the narrative.

[via]