Sergeant Dead Head (1965)

Another of the teen romcom romps that Buster was in in the ’60s.  Like Pajama Party, it’s silly, corny, and utterly insane – it still cracks me up that this is what these movies are about.  Like, did Buster just happen to be in all the crazy ‘60s teen movies, or were films like this super-popular with young people at the time?  They’re so weird, I’m almost a little impressed by them (premise spoilers.)

This isn’t so much a beach party movie, since it takes place on an air base.  Interminable screwup Sgt. O.K. Deadhead is in love with Airmen Lucy Turner, but every time they’re getting ready to tie the knot, Deadhead gets himself in trouble with a commanding officer and the ceremony can’t go through.  As it happens, he’s not quite ready to get married and is intentionally putting it off.  His efforts go so far that he accidentally winds up hitching a ride on an experimental rocket launch piloted by a chimpanzee.  Due to… I don’t know, cosmic space rays or something? ...he undergoes a complete personality change (the summary on IMDb says he switches brains with the chimp, but I don’t think it’s as clear-cut as that – more than anything, he just becomes really obnoxious and arrogant.)  The military, not wanting to admit their big screw-up, has to pretend they intended for Deadhead to go into space all along, somehow keeping his personality change from the press and Lucy before their now PR-approved wedding.

So yeah, totally crazy.  It’s amusing enough, cute and inoffensive with nice music, and Frankie Avalon and Deborah Walley are charming in the lead roles.  Most of the supporting players are totally ridiculous, and it all gets quite farcical.

There’s less of Buster in this film than there is in Pajama Party, but fortunately, his role is way less racist.  He plays Pvt. Blinken, an over-eager gofer who has plenty of enthusiasm but little competence.  Like I said, he’s not around much – he’s in a few memorable slapstick bits in the first third of the film and then mostly disappears.  He does get to have a little bit of fun, though.  I like the gag where he utterly fails to lead a group of airmen on a march, and my biggest laugh is watching him stand stalwartly with a fire hose during an emergency, with barely a hint of water dribbling out of it.  Even though these movies, naturally, can’t compare to anything Buster did in his own films, they’re good reminders of how he could shine under any circumstance and in the smallest of moments.

Warnings

Lots of suggestiveness, a little drinking/smoking, and some slapstick violence.

Doctor Who: Spoilery Series 10 Finale Thoughts – The Doctor

Looking at the Doctor’s story today.  As with last week, we’re talking full spoilage on “World Enough and Time” and “The Doctor Falls.”

First off, I know the Doctor and the Master have had their weird love/hate thing going on for centuries, but dude.  He is way too trusting of Missy here, and I was legit mad at him for entrusting Bill and Nardole’s safety to her.  Even if he’s right inside the TARDIS and can pop out at the first sign of trouble, that’s putting way too big a gamble on his friends’ lives.  Bad Doctor!

That’s my chief complaint.  Mostly, though, the Doctor is quite good here, especially in “The Doctor Falls.”  As I’ve said before, I love that he’s prepared to make his last stand for the sake of a few dozen people, and his speech about doing what he does, purely because it’s kind, is absolutely gorgeous.  Peter Capaldi has unfortunately been given a lot of rocky writing during his time on the show, but when they give him these moments where he can really shine, he knocks it out of the park every time.  That speech is the Doctor all over, and I love it.

I’m interested in the whole regeneration situation (and not just because I’m excited about what’s to come.)  It seems like his injuries at the start of “The Doctor Falls” are what’s really triggering the regeneration, more so than anything that comes afterwards, and I’m intrigued by how he’s been able to stave off the regeneration so far.  I suppose that makes sense, though – there are plenty of fatal injuries that don’t kill a person right away, and it follows that he could keep the regeneration energy down to just occasional wisps until his condition gets too critical to keep ignoring.  And even as you want to scream, “Talk to your friend, Doctor!”, it’s admittedly in character for him to brush it off and not tell Bill about it.  Waiting to tell his companion until the very last second is kind of the Doctor’s go-to move, save the odd random reference that does nothing but confuse them.  And with Bill in particular, saying that she’s going through some stuff right now is putting it mildly.  I can totally understand the Doctor wanting to divide his attention completely between stopping the Cybermen and supporting Bill through this horrific trauma in whatever small way he can, pushing his own stuff down.

The last stand itself is beautiful – “I hoped there’d be stars,” is a beautiful line, and again, so Doctor.  But it’s not actually the end, of course.  Heather ex machina gets him back to the TARDIS and for whatever reason, he still hasn’t regenerated by the time he comes to and thus is able to hold it back again, just barely.  And this is where it starts to bug me again.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad we’ll have one more episode with Twelve, and I’m thrilled about One being in the Christmas special.  But 1) I’m not a fan of dragged-out regenerations – and I thought Ten’s passing was interminable.  We’re not gonna having an entire Christmas special of Twelve trying not to regenerate, are we?  Hopefully, something will happen at the start to at least put it off for a while, so he’s not struggling against it the whole time.  And 2) I don’t like to watch the Doctor railing against regeneration.  For better or worse, this is how life works for a Time Lord – regeneration happens (and when you think about how flippant the Doctor was about the General in “Hellbent” last season, he really has no right to agonize over this!)  I get that regeneration, like death, is scary, and it’s understandable that a particular regeneration of the Doctor can feel like he’s not ready to go yet.  But I don’t like watching it.  I greatly prefer it when the Doctor goes to his regeneration with grace.  Eleven’s regeneration was lovely, and Nine’s is still my favorite ever.  See, with Nine, I was bawling my head off, whereas with Ten, I was kinda like, “Just go already!”  I don’t want to feel that about Twelve.

Is there anything to read into the fact that both new Who showrunners so far have had two Doctors, and it looks like in both cases, their first Doctor accepts it (when he’s regenerating into another Doctor written by the same showrunner, but their second Doctor fights it (when he’s regenerating into a Doctor written by the new showrunner?)  I wouldn’t say it’s actively trying to poison the well, but it does feel a bit like, the first time around, it’s all, “Look, I know I’ve changed, but I’m still me!  The same old Doctor, kids – it’s all right!”  But when the showrunner’s on the way out, it’s, “Okay, kids – this new Doctor, whoever they are, isn’t me at all, and in fact, when you think about it, it’s kind of like they’re killing me so they can live, so whatever you do, don’t love them!”  I kid, I kid.  Still, it’s a weird trait.

Hopefully, I’m wrong.  Since it looks like Twelve is in for the longest regeneration ever, he’s still got some time to come to terms with it before the end.

A Little TLC(w): Chinese Midnight Express (1997)

This Tony Leung Chiu-wai film is a little bit Shawshank – it bears a lot of the narrative hallmarks of that iconic film, but despite some strong moments and a good lead performance from Leung, it never manages to be more than decent.  Although there are plenty of ingredients for a fine movie here, it doesn’t quite coalesce into that satisfying whole (premise spoilers.)

Ahn, an investigative journalist, has just published a major story on corruption in the police department.  His valiant stand is rewarded with harsh retribution when a police chief/secret crime boss has him framed for drug possession and sentenced to three years in prison.  Ahn’s unjust sentence brings him a great deal of suffering, but at the same time, he starts to recognize the depth of the corruption inside the prison, and he rallies his fellow prisoners to fight for more humane treatment.

This film’s worst crime, in my estimation, is being seriously overwritten.  While it gains some traction in the second half as Ahn starts to find allies in the prison, the first half is kind of a mess.  The opening scenes have way too many instances of stalwart Ahn, the only journalist in Hong Kong with integrity, talking about how he isn’t afraid to stand up to a dirty police force.  We’re talking drinking-game levels of repetition here.  And when Ahn arrives in prison, the next sizable chunk of the film is dedicated to the horrors he experiences:  beatings and more unsanctioned forms of torture from the guards, both humiliation and violence from other prisoners, and all manner of indignities and instances of personal suffering.  Now, I don’t want to make light of prison conditions in the least, and I’m not trying to negate what Ahn experiences of his feelings about it.  But the way it’s done just doesn’t work for me.  It feels like low-grade torture porn rather than scenes with anything to say about the issue. 

Fortunately, things improve quite a bit when Ahn and the other prisoners start banding together.  These scenes still show the injustices occurring in the prison, but they also have an “indomitability of the human spirit” vibe going for them, making Ahn and his new friends much more engaging to root for.  Instead of an unrelenting beat-down, we see a two-sided struggle, with the prisoners fighting tooth and nail despite having the deck stacked against them.  I understand that the film needs Ahn to find his allies fairly slowly, but the first half could’ve used more of this attitude.

As for Leung, his performance as Ahn keeps me going in the rough first half of the movie – the extent to which the character interests me is all down to his acting, and it’s a relief to see Ahn find some fight in him later in the film.  Instead of just the principled-if-somewhat-self-righteous character being tortured in every scene, Ahn starts to emerge as a reasonable strategist who is able to play the game by different rules than most of his fellow prisoners.  What he lacks in size, fiercesomeness, and street cred, he makes up in shrewd observation and a talent for skills the other prisoners haven’t had a chance to develop (for instance, an important victory hinges on Ahn’s fluency in English.)  I just wish we could’ve gotten to that guy a lot sooner.

Recommend?

In General – Not necessarily.  While it has its merits, the film spends too much time hammering the same few points before it settles into the story it really wants to tell.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Not a must.  Leung salvages the film in the first half and makes of most of Ahn coming into his own in the second, but the movie just takes too long to get around to some compelling material for him.

Warnings

Violence, sexual content (including rape,) drinking/smoking/drug references, language, and strong thematic elements.

News Satire Roundup: July 24th-July 27th

Okay, so close now – Last Week Tonight is starting up again this coming Sunday, and not a minute too soon.  In the meantime, I’ll mention one of the show’s recurring topics:  the criminal justice system.  I like when shows like this have particular subjects that they come at time and again from new angles – not too long ago, I talked about The Daily Show’s stories on police brutality, and they also do an excellent job addressing gun laws – and for Last Week Tonight, I think prison reform is one of their strongest subjects.  John has discussed numerous aspects of the system, from parole to public defenders to mandatory minimums to reintegration, and his information/commentary is always sharply on point.  I particularly appreciate his reiteration that having committed a crime doesn’t erase someone’s worth as a human being (sad that that needs to be said, but thanks to him for doing it.)

Monday, July 24 – Trevor opened with the lameness of Michael Phelps “racing” a CGI shark, then moved on to the night’s theme of White House communications.  First was new director of communications Anthony Scaramucci – Trevor covered his much-vaunted “love” for Trump, deleting old anti-Trump tweets in the name of “transparency,” his goodbye-kiss blown to the press, and, my favorite, how sad/lonely he made Trump sound in his descriptions of him.  Next was a farewell to Sean Spicer.  The accompanying “memorial” montage was the same as the one they posted on their website last Friday, but it was hilarious enough to warrant a second viewing.  Rapper French Montana was the guest – he and Trevor bonded over listening to American hip-hop in Africa (Montana is from Morocco,) and discussed the (hopefully) new trend of rappers proving their cred through charity work in Africa.

Tuesday, July 25 – I thought they could’ve done more with the youth-rally vibe of Trump’s Boy Scout speech.  Trevor mostly focused on Trump saying inappropriate things to kids, although I liked his bit about Trump doing the stand-up comedian walk-away technique.  The latest story on the healthcare bill, with the Senate voting to advance debate, was excellent.  I loved Trevor’s incredulousness at the new plan to “spitball” a new healthcare system in three days, and the ending joke about Mitch McConnell and John McCain was the perfect capper.  Short bit on the new Democrat agenda, featuring Trevor riffing on franchise slogans that liberal organizations could coopt and his impression of a congresswoman trying to figure out what “these hillfolk” (people who don’t vote Democrat) like.  The guest, Dr. Rola Hallam, talked about humanitarian efforts in Syria and trying to combat the targeted campaign of destroying healthcare facilities.

Wednesday, July 26 – Trevor brought up the controversy over Madame Tussauds' Beyoncé statue before moving on to the healthcare bill.  This time, he was looking at John McCain voting to advance the bill, then vowing he wouldn’t vote to pass it, then voting to pass it – ah, our elected representatives.  The big story, of course, was Trump’s Twitter announcement that he was banning transgender soldiers from serving in the military.  Trevor broke down the BS and grossness of the tweets, and I liked his comment (re:  Trump ending with “thank you”) about how “politely” Trump strips away civil rights.  Two trans veterans, Jennifer Marie Long and Joey Whimple, were brought in to speak about the ban as well.  Meanwhile, the preplanned guest was Charlize Theron, promoting Atomic Blonde.  She and Trevor mutually admired one another as South Africans, and she shared stories about the stunts she performed on the film.

Thursday, July 27 – We opened on discord in the Trump camp.  First up was Anthony Scaramucci dragging Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, followed by Trump’s continuing anger with Jeff Sessions.  I liked Trevor’s points about Sessions’s duty to serve the people, not just the president, as well as his observation that Trump didn’t start getting outspoken about Sessions’s recusal until the Russia investigation moved to Trump’s business holdings.  Lewis did a Back in Black on the poor state of America’s infrastructure.  Bonus points for use of the term “hobo fuck palace” to describe a derailed train, and I liked his rant against the people who stood outside filming people stuck inside a stalled subway car instead of helping them.  Journalist Masha Gessen, the guest, talked about authoritarian similarities between Trump and Putin and discussed the current political situation in Russia.

Favorite Characters: Betty Cooper (Riverdale)

Oh, Betty… There’s a lot to enjoy about crazy, glorious Riverdale, but probably my favorite thing about it is how it handles main girls Betty, Veronica, and Cheryl.  While I like both Betty and Veronica in the comics (Cheryl has yet to show up in Jughead, so I can’t speak to her there,) all three girls are just fantastic on the show, none more so, in my opinion, than Betty (a few Betty-related spoilers.)

Even in the pilot of the series, which heavily features the famous triangle from the comics, Betty is immediately interesting.  She’s painfully into a woefully clueless Archie, yes, and her insecurities start to mount as soon as gorgeous Veronica breezes into town, but it’s clear from the start that she’s not just “one of the two girls” in Archie’s story.  Hers is the strongest perspective in the opening triangle stuff, and the story takes time for things happening in her life besides Archie, like her genuine burgeoning friendship with Veronica and her attempt (with Veronica’s backing) to stand up to Cheryl and join the River Vixens.

But there’s so much more going on with Betty, and the pilot only begins to delve into it all.  She has a personal stake in Jason Blossom’s murder, since her sister had been his girlfriend, and Betty is kept in the dark about a mysterious Something that went down between Polly and Jason.  Her interest in finding the truth there, along with nearly-singlehandedly running the most ambitious school newspaper around, leads her to begin her own investigation into Jason’s murder and the many secrets that surround it.  It doesn’t take too long to realize that Sheriff Keller’s investigation skills are laughable compared to Betty and Jughead’s, and the pair are our first really significant window into the murder.

The investigation shows off a lot of Betty’s great qualities.  She’s smart, obviously, as well as curious, determined, and creative.  She can be a lot steelier than she’s usually given credit for, and her pursuit of the truth brings out her courage in spades, both in confronting intimidating people and in facing truths she might not be ready for.  Also, during a non-related mini-investigation, we discover that she can jimmy open the lock on a car and employ assorted other lockpicking skills.  I love how pleased she sounds with herself when she credits Nancy Drew books with teaching her the latter; Betty Cooper is a wonderfully-nerdy badass.

Even better, the show explores Betty’s flaws and fears in a pretty serious way, too.  Her parents, especially her Everything Just So mother, have done a number on her.  Betty’s perfectionism is a stress-filled need, not a desire.  Although she of course wants to do well, fit in at school, etc., she’s been taught to maintain a carefully-constructed façade of a prototypical happy suburban family, and her role within in it is that of the impeccably-behaved high achiever.  Her mom’s expectations for her, coupled with Betty’s awareness that she doesn’t know the full truth but realizes her family isn’t as polished as it pretends to be, fuels her anxiety, and she fights hard to suppress her strong emotions.  Betty does tons of plot heavy-lifting with the mystery and a major romance, but another huge part of her story is finding the courage to be who she is:  to allow herself to deal with her messier parts honestly and to let her parents see her rather than just the person they want her to be.