Tune In or Tune Out:Orange is the New Black (Netflix)

Orange is the New Black

Created by: Jenji Kohan (Weeds)

Starring: Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Natasha Lyonne, Kate Mulgrew, and Jason Biggs

Netflix is at it again, this is their fourth original series, and this ranks as another creative success, so far. I am about four episodes in, and I feel as though this series hits all the right elements.  Before I put the cart before the horse, let's talk about Netflix, and then get into the series, and what makes this show work.

Some people are on board with the Netflix model, while others view this "binge" watching as counter intuitive to the water cooler aspect of television.  With Arrested Development, I binge watched, and wish I had stretch out the episodes a little longer.  I was so excited for the show to be back, and just needed to watch and watch and watch.  Arrested Development is a show I can watch over and over again, most of the shows fans do this.  With House of Cards I watched the series within a week or two week span, I paced myself a little better, but the pacing of the show kept me wanting to go back for more, and I could when I wanted.  The subject matter, and emotional intensity of Orange is the New Black has created a different pace for me.

Orange is about Piper Chapman (Schilling) is former wildling turned suburbanite who is engaged to her fiance Larry (Biggs), runs her own business, shops at Whole Foods, and lives in the world of white privilege.  Before her life with Larry, Piper was in a relationship with Alex (Prepon) who ended up being a drug smuggler.  Alex pulled Piper into her world, and this eventually caught up with Piper as the show follows her in jail interacting with her fellow inmates, and through flashbacks of her own life.

The show works on so many levels, Kohan who created Weeds, imbibes her snark, but also lays on the emotional weight of what prison is like for Piper, who is much like Nancy Botwin.  Schilling is great as Piper; she is terrific with her naivete, and sarcasm, but sells the dramatic moments well.  The true strength in this show is that this is a great ensemble, and explores the other inmates just as well.  In the first few episdoes the show explores heavy concepts like race, and gender identity well.  I almost cried in episode three as they explored gender identity, beings transgender, and the changes that occur.  Don't get me wrong this show is not all drama, while it is a drama with hilarious undertones. Red (Mulgrew) and Nicky (Lyonne) are two of the best characters on the show, and they have some of the best lines.

This show explores being a women better than many shows I have seen on television, most of the characters are true to form, fleshed out characters.  While these women are all in prison that takes nothing away from the identity they have developed, and you see this development within the flashbacks.  I love that this show is not afraid to show men as secondary, and also within their piggish nature.  Some will argue this is a one sided representation, while I argue, that things can't always be about the men!  Kohan has created yet another representation which shows so many layers within female characters.

Back to Netflix.  Does their model work?  I have talked to a lot of people who powered through this show the way I did with House of Cards.  I think there are flaws, but I disagree that this eliminates the buzz factor.  More and more people are signing up for Netflix, and more people are starting to watch their shows including this one because they have heard great things.  I like Netflix's "choose your own adventure" viewing style, and I think it fits with this new generations viewing patterns.  This show is is a winner!

Tune In!  Be careful you don't get shanked

American Reunion has Enough Nostalgia on its Side to Make me Care About the Characters Again, but Falls Flat

American Reunion (1 1/2 Stars out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Jon Hurwitzand and Hayden Schlossberg (Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay) Written by Adam Herz, Jon Hurwitzand and Hayden Schlossberg 

Starring: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Sean Williams Scott (and the rest of the gang)

Exactly 30 years ago in 1982 the raunchy high school film Porky's was released.  Porky's is not that  different film from the original American Pie.  The film was set in 1954 and is about high school boys trying to lose their virginity, the only extra element is the titular establishment Porky's.  Porky's is a sleazy night club where the boys make an attempt to lose their virginity, but they are humiliated, and the vow revenge on the owner and his friends.

While the characters change, films have used this story of young men attempting to lose their virginity throughout the years.  Looking back at the cast of Porky's the only person who has made a name for themself is Kim Cattrall who played one of minor supporting characters, Honeywell.  American Reunion attempts to never let the audience forget the past, and uses a millennial tactic of nostalgia to bring back every significant character from the first film.

Thirteen years ago the gang from the American Pie film was in their senior year of high working on losing their virginity, except for the Stiffmeister (Sean William Scottt).  Now thirteen years later each of the characters has moved on and attempted to grow up. Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are still married, but now they have a child.  Oz (Chris Klein) is a sportscaster and a famous reality star. Kevin (Thomas Ian Nichols) is a stay at home husband and architect-although his story about his life is not explored as fully as it should.  Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is supposedly a world traveler with thinly veiled stories.  Then there is good ole Stiffler who is a temp and still has not grown up and lives as though he is still in high school.

Even the supporting ladies from the first film returned.  Tara Reid with her unfortunate plastic surgery and even worse acting returned to play Vicki Kevin's first love.  Oz's choir girlfriend from the first two films Heather (Mena Suvari) was still the same; she returned to play Oz's moral compass.  Jim's dad Eugene Levy and Stiffler's mom payed Jennifer Coolidge returned to raise hell with their children.  How could you do a reunion without the MILF guys, Jessica, the Sherminator, and the hot lacrosse team.  How can any of this go wrong?

While this films has pretty funny moments the creative team focused too much on the nostalgic factor thinking that just getting every back into one film would make the movie good.  The story is silly, and yes all of the first three had that, but silly tends to be less funny when the characters are not the same people.  The point of the film could and was in a sense that some people change and some people do not after they leave high school.  Throughout Reunion the writers do a decent job getting this message out their, I think they forgot something, these jokes have been done before and just aren't adding anything to the story.

The first film ended on a poignant moment, even the second and third films made you feel as though these guys were becoming adults and figuring things out.  So thirteen years later all of that changes, and they have what 30 Rock calls Revertigo?  They go back to being teenagers.  I did not expect a Citizen Kane type storyline, but I expected that the laughs combined with the nostalgia of the 90s would make this film worthy of a follow-up, and unfortunately masturbation and shit jokes just make this film incredibly less funny.