Political Animals starts out Uneven but Finishes Strong in the end

Political Animals starts out a bit cheesy with the introduction of Elaine Hammond who is running for President, my initial thought was I hope this does not delve too much into the "soap opera" stratosphere.  Elaine is the former first lady to the former President Bud Hammond, the most popular democrat since JFK took a bullet to the head, those are Bud's words.  Elaine is running against a young idealistic Paul Garcetti, but in the opening gives a concession speech.  After the speech Elaine and Bud talk about the loss, Bud's ego forces him to blame himself for her loss, forcing her to see Bud always makes things about him; she walks away telling him she wants a divorce.  Cut to two years later and the show focusing on the now Elaine Barrish as Secretary of State.  Sound familiar?

Political Animals appears to be similar to a "what if" version of "what if Hillary left Bill Clinton?"  Many people will compare this show and Elaine or Sigourney Weaver to a Hillary Clinton like figure.  The main reason for this is because when it comes to female politicians, people cling to the familiar, and can never see other singular women (in office) for who they are, something different.  Hillary's story, and reach for power was also a harrowing journey; she worked hard to separate her own legacy from her husbands, and is the only first lady to hold an elected office, ever. Creator and EP Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters) makes sure to create a line that divides the differences within Elaine, her family, and creates an interesting world around them.  Weaver is the flue that holds the show together and her terrific acting, which evolves throughout the first episode, helps sustain the the episode.

In this series Elaine has divorced her husband but is surrounded by a quirky family.  Elaine's mother played by the amazing Ellen Burstyn is a pistol who spits out hilarious comments the way Maggie Smith does in Downton Abbey.  I hope they give her more screen time because I can see great character development within her.  James Wolk plays Elaine's more "stable son" he is her chief of staff, about to get engaged, but I feel a few secrets will force this Kennedy like character perfection to be cracked.  Elaine's other son T. J. played by episode stand out Sebastian Stan is a terrific character.  Stan deals with being the first openly gay son of the first family, this strain along with a drug addiction proves to be a challenge for both T. J. and his mother's career.  Then of course there is the complicated relationship between Elaine and her ex husband Bud (Ciaran Hinds) who hits out the charm in an incredibly Clintonesque way.  After dealing with all of her family, her job, namely the President (Adrian Pasadar), Elaine also has to deal with a reporter obsessed with her family.  Susan Berg played by Carla Guigino is the reporter who covered Bud's infidelities during the White House days; she is back and her connection with Elaine is more similar than the the two realize.

Together all of these element prove strained but fascinating within the first episode of this "limited series."  Berlanti is great at deconstructing the family drama behind it all; he did this beautifully on Brothers & Sisters, and I think this will be an incredibly strong part of the series.  One of the weaker parts of the show was the writing itself.  Berlanti who wrote and directed the first episode does not have the political charge to make this West Wing like, and while I know the show is meant to be different the characters speak the dialogue (often times) as though they are void of intellect.  The first episode took on too much too soon, and much like Newsroom with its hour an a half tried to cram too much in at once.  Berlanti closed out the episode well, and made up for poor start to make this one show I will tune in week after week for.

A Tribute to Great Films: Alien and Aliens

The past few months I have paid tribute to three different television shows, Murder She Wrote, Friday Night Lights, and The Golden Girls.  Each tribute coincided with my re-watching each series. This month I have decided to pay tribute to two spectacular sci-fi/thriller films Alien and Aliens.  

My friend Eric got the idea when we went to see Men in Black III on friday and saw the trailer for Prometheus.  When many fans had heard about Prometheus their minds jumped to the conclusion that it was a prequel.  Ridley Scott who directed the first film and is directing Prometheus has stated openly that Prometheus "carries the DNA of Alien" and "Prometheus is an original piece of science fiction" about "biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and the origins of the destruction of man." Sounds epic.

Scott started the ball rolling within the quadrangle of Aliens films.  The brilliant thing about the all of the films (but in this case the first two films)  is that while they center around the same story the stylistic undertone of the direction changes the feel for each film.  The original film Alien was released in 1979, and was also re-released in 2003 with material that was found and not part of the original film.  I saw this film for the first time in theatres during the re-release.  No film had scared me as much as this film did in the theatre.  Sitting in the pitch black multiplex at 10 pm at night with a small crowd, the experience was worth it, and why I love going to the movies. I refused to scream out in terror.  Yet as the films tagline reads "No one can hear you scream in space."

As the mining ship Nostromo touches down on unknown planet for a distress call the terror builds and the audience is catapulted into following this crew as alien life form board their ship.  As the films intensity builds Jerry Goldsmith's score carries the suspense to a whole new level.  The music combined with Roger Christian and Leslie Dilley's art stark art direction, and Ridley's Scott's well paced directions creates this beautifully ominous tone.  There is no doubt that Scott's direction is brilliant, but he also assembled an impressive cast.

The cast of the film is impressive but the film, and this series centered around the new comer Sigourney Weaver.  Weaver's Ripley is an embodiment of something different; she is a feminist icon action hero who kicks ass instead of playing the victim.  Like Jaime Lee Curtis who was dubbed the scream queen, Sigourney Weaver is the queen of sci-fi films. While Ripley is a bit quieter in the first film, mainly because the films pacing is a bit more like an old school thriller where the pacing is a build up.  The sequel to Alien, entitled Aliens jumps right into the action.

After I had finished the first film I knew I had to rent the sequel (blockbuster still existed).  Aliens (1986) is a different film from the original, mainly because it was directed by James Cameron instead of Ridley Scott.  Cameron was a huge fan of the original and pitched the concept of doing a sequel to 20th Century FOX.  While Cameron was contemplating the tone for this film he was also working on The Terminator (1984).  The sequel was released so much later for two reasons, the first was that 20th Century FOX did not believe in a low budget film warranting a sequel (that has changed these days) and Cameron needed to prove himself, The Terminator was his staging ground.  The Terminator was a monster hit, and well reviewed, and Cameron's new script impressed 20th Century FOX and thus Aliens was born.

Cameron's script for Aliens had a much different tone.  The first film lead me on this terrifying journey, and was an all out thriller, while Cameron made the sequel more of an action film.  Ripley is brought back with a militaristic squad to the planet where Nostromo landed.  The team became a rogue squad battling and fighting for their lives against more than just one alien this time. There was incredible anticipation for this film because the original was so liked and the Ripley character was an incredible female character. Cameron knows how to blend the concept of the original with his own version of the story; he seamlessly blends the plot from the first film with his own while making this an incredibly great film.

Many people cite this as a sequel better than the original, but to me that's a Sophie's choice.  While two films are about the same character, and are part of a series the direction by these two master craftsmen makes them hard to compare.  Each film fits within a different genre.  The first film is an old school thriller, and while the second film has those elements Cameron makes his sequel more action packed, which works too.  Aliens was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Actress, I think the first film deserved just as many accolades.  Both of these films are incredible pieces of work. and have only built up my excitement for Ridley Scott to come back to this world.

The slight edge may go to Aliens and the scene below "Get Away from her you bitch."