TV REVIEW: "Under The Dome" -- Premiered: June 24, 2013

Let me begin by saying I wasn't particularly looking forward to this premiere with much (or any) anticipation. To be honest,  I'm not sure anyone was looking forward to it aside from some casual interest or the few who thought the idea could actually make for a gripping summer series. Well, Under The Dome has arrived and its premiere felt mostly like a whole bunch of nothing.

Based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, Under The Dome tells the story of Chester's Mill, an idyllic small town in Maine with a lot of BIG SECRETS. If you didn't already know, if you live in a small town, it's actually impossible for there NOT to be dark secrets lurking behind every closed door –  especially if your small town is the focal point of a new "event" TV series on CBS. 

The pilot begins with a predictable glimpse of everyday life in Chester's Mill. We're introduced to Dale "Barbie" Barbara (Mike Vogel, fresh off his weird stint on A&E's Bates Motel), an Army vet who's just passing through town but also happens to be burying a body deep within the town limits of CM. We also meet "Big Jim" Rennie (DEAN NORRIS!), a used car salesman who holds a confident swagger, as only Dean Norris could, and a prominent political role in the town. We learn later, Big Jim also seems to be one of the central characters in a larger mystery involving mysterious propane deliveries. Yes, a central mystery in Under The Dome revolves around propane deliveries. I don't know, I guess we'll see where this goes?! I GUESS? We also meet the new editor of the local paper, Julia Shumway (Rachelle Lefevre); and young kind-of couple, Junior Rennie (Alexander Koch) and Angie McAlister (Britt Robertson). Junior and Angie had a little summer fling, but you see, summer is over and in the early minutes of last night's premiere Junior tells Angie he loves her. She doesn't return the favor and by the end of the episode, she's locked up in the Rennie's storm cellar. Junior is a very troubled young teen with ANGST.

About 10 minutes into the pilot, "the dome" crash lands over Chester's Mill and in the process, literally slices a cow in half. It's arguably the most campy moment of the premiere, and the special effects do a good enough job at retaining the seriousness of it all, but I couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably and rewind the moment to watch again and again. What's strange is that after a few more big set pieces, revealing how the dome has affected the town while simultaneously establishing how far its encasing reaches, the residents reactions range from minor panic to simply mildly annoyed. In one scene, after an airplane crashes into the dome and almost kills Joe McAlister, Angie's brother, with its debris, Joe simply walks it off. Seconds later, he asks Barbie if his cell phone is working – super casual. Like, it's weird enough that two of these strangers are dealing with this chaos together, let's not make it stranger by brushing off these catastrophic events with a minor wipe of the brow. A certain sense of urgency and maybe some forward thinking would help? Maybe? Yes, I think it would! Moments like this continue throughout the pilot which makes for some very interesting tonal shifts and all the more confusing for the audience as we contemplate whether or not we should be taking any of it seriously. I think that's a problem.

Now my lukewarm reaction could easily be chalked up to the fact that I just finished Season 3 of Game of Thrones over the weekend thus amplifying all of Under The Dome's network drama silliness. Who knows, I may have warmed to it a tad more if I was coming off, say, a weekend marathoning FlashForward (R.I.P.). I definitely think there's some intrigue and fun to be had here. The pilot does a decent job of giving us enough of a taste of these characters, and this town, to make us interested in seeing what happens to them but I just hope in further episodes, the writers don't take the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach that seemed to be the motto for the pilot.

The show needs to build interesting conflicts and create some internal and external struggles for these characters amongst these fantastical events. If they create a good enough mix, I think it will be worth sticking around for the remainder of its 13-episode run. If not, at least I can savor the cow being sliced in half.

MOST HORRIBLE / AMAZING THING SAID:

Joe McAlister: What if the government built this thing? 

Barbie: I doubt it.

Joe McAlister: Why?!

Barbie: 'Cause it works.

OUCH!

GRADE: C+

MOVIE REVIEW: "Man of Steel" -- Released: June 14, 2013

In July of 2012, The Dark Knight Trilogy, one of the most successful (and widely-acclaimed) superhero franchises of all time, came to an end. Christopher Nolan's gritty, realistic, and emotionally draining trilogy raised the bar for what audiences expect from superhero films, and many were skeptic something as raw and "real" would ever come along again. Fast forward about a year later and that answer is still unclear for some but absolutely certain for many – Man of Steel has arrived and it's about as emotionally-raw and mind-blowingly epic as superhero films get.

Director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead) has created a 2 1/2 hour exercise in relentless action and striking emotion all anchored by a new, cooler, more conflicted Superman. The added angst and human touch come with the help of Nolan himself who served as co-writer/producer on the film. Though at times too bombastic for it's own good, the film explores the struggle of one boy's journey to accept the differences that made him an outcast and use those differences to change the world – for the better.

The film begins with an extended prologue on Krypton – something I was not expecting – where we meet Superman's father, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and mother, Lara (Ayelet Zurer) who is heaving in pain giving birth to young Kal-El (our hero). The whole scene plays out with the impending doom of General Zod (Michael Shannon) looming over the proceedings all while Krypton slowly burns to ashes. Jor-El's prophecy is that young Kal-El will become an "ideal" for mankind and that the people of Earth will look to him for guidance and light. As Krypton explodes, the two parents ship their child in a vessel, intact with a codex to preserve the Kryptonian race,  straight to Earth as General Zod threatens his plot of revenge. (i.e. "I WILL FIND HIM!")

Years later, we meet grown up Kal-El (Henry Cavill) as a burly fisherman, who within 60 seconds of screen time shows off his insane strength, when he rescues an entire fishing crew after a disaster on an oil rig breaks out. After the rescue, he sinks into the ocean lifeless as we flashback to young Kal. Ya know, the one who crash landed in Smallville, Kansas and is being raised by The Kents (Diane Lane as Martha and Kevin Costner as Jonathan) who have renamed him, Clark. It is here where we first get a glimpse of his childhood, which of course is filled with the usual struggles like bullies, being an outcast, and the strange tendency to lose focus and control when too much information is being thrown at him, like in a classroom. But all of this pales in comparison to when Clark saves a handful of classmates by literally dragging a school bus out of a lake after it careens off a bridge into the icy water below, forever ruining the notion he would prefer everyone accept – that he is a normal kid.

The first hour of the film continues to explore these moments, as we jump in time between old and young Clark. The choice to employ non-linerar storytelling for a superhero tale was a wise one by screenwriter David S. Goyer and co-writer Nolan. I'm surprised a previous hero tale hasn't made similar use of the technique. In Man of Steel, it allows those who are too familiar with Superman's origin to be surprised and informs those who need a brush up on the motivations behind the important decisions Clark makes along the way. The scenes between Clark and his adopted parents are without a doubt the emotional core of the film. Aided by a brilliant, emotionally charged score by Hans Zimmer, these scenes ache with pain and hurt but they also flawlessly remind us that this is where Clark learns who he is and who he would become, and that no matter what, family, any family, is important.

Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is introduced as a no-nonsense, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist sent to the Arctic to investigate a mysterious vehicle under the ice. Of course, this is where Lois and Clark have there first run in. (Many have said that Henry Cavill and Amy Adams lacked romantic chemistry and I don't disagree. But, I also think it's something the script doesn't full develop and we can't place the blame entirely on the performances.) It's also at this location that Clark discovers a sort-of hologram of his real father, Jor-El who appears from the dead to brief Clark on the history of Krypton and unveil to him the infamous cape and suit branded with an "S," that doesn't stand for Superman, but for hope. Jor-El reminds him yet again, Earth is counting on him to defy evil and bring light to the world in the dark times that lie ahead.

This leads to arguably one of the films finest moments – Superman learning to fly. It's thrilling and joyful and gives the audience the sense that even we could accomplish such amazing feats if we put our minds to it.

And of course, just as Clark is mastering his flight and strength, General Zod returns from his limbo, in his frozen prison, hellbent on forcing the inhabitants of Earth to capture and release Superman into his clutches. Zod is after a that codex that was sent with Kal when he made his journey from Krypton. Ya see, Zod's main objective is to rebuild the Kryptonian race and the codex is the only way he will be able to do it.

The final hour, that's right, HOUR is devoted to the battle of Superman vs. General Zod as well as Superman's ultimate choice – does he return to Zod and help rebuild his first home (and his race), or does he defend his real home on Earth. Now, I'll be the first to admit this final sequence is as awe-inspiring as it is tedious. Its relentless, at sometimes repetitive, action verges on over-indulgent and it goes on for far too long. The nagging thing about the popularity of these superhero franchises is every "final battle" needs to top the previous one. It seems like Snyder was focused on destroying the record The Avengers set last summer in terms of length and insanity – and even though that battle had issues, at least it had a clearer sense of what was going on. Don't get me wrong, it's still very exciting and entertaining but I'm in the mindset that there definitely can be too much action in a film and Man of Steel comes dangerously close to crossing the line.

In the end, Metropolis is basically in ashes and Superman defeats Zod, albeit in a somewhat controversial execution. After a series of fights featuring non-stop punching (seriously, the amount of punching was insane), Superman, rather violently, snaps Zod's neck. Now, I don't consider myself an expert on every aspect of the character, but I believe it's widely known that Superman is one of the kinder superheroes who would never personally kill a villain, so it did come as a shock when the sound of a neck snapping spread throughout the theater sending a chill up the audiences collective spine. It was a dark moment and one of the biggest decisions Clark makes throughout the film. In my opinion, it works because of just how un-defeatable Zod had proven. THIS was Clark's moment to listen to what both of his fathers had been telling him throughout the years, it was HIS time to live up to their beliefs and defeat evil and restore hope to the people. I think it works because of the pain Henry Cavill expresses after Clark decides to end Zod for good. Clark was not expecting to make that decision or for it to come to that, but he did what he thought was right in the moment and he will deal with whatever consequences arise because of it.

Controversy aside, the film ends in a sequence that (rather obviously) sets up some story threads for the inevitable sequel – the film has made $141.3 million to-date. Superman has a face-to-face meeting with a leading general requesting the military forces trust in him, to protect earth and work together to defeat any future threats, as he's sure there will be many. Then, of course, Clark dons his classic, bespectaled "disguise" and begins work as a journalist at "The Daily Planet," working next to Lois Lane, and giving the film an iconic image to cut to its end titles.

The critical reception of Man of Steel has been so divisive, I'm finding it hard to think of another time opinion has been so split on a blockbuster. I don't understand those who simply HATED it. Sure, it's not perfect but what impressed me the most about Man of Steel was its sense of wonder and the heart at its core. Once the credits rolled, I felt like I really had been taken on a journey. I was wiped – emotionally and kind-of physically (remember, the punching). It felt different than any other superhero film I've ever seen. It took risks in its storytelling and packed an emotional wallop that really resonated with me. In the closing minutes of the film, there's a moment where a young Clark Kent is playing in the yard with a homemade red cape on, as his father watches on. Clark strikes the infamous hands-on-hip pose as the sun glistens across the striking red cape and in that moment, his father knows exactly what his adopted son will become – a beacon of hope for a world gone dark. He doesn't know when it will happen and maybe he won't be around to see it happen, but in his eyes you can tell he will rest peacefully knowing his son, Superman, will be there to protect him and everyone else. After all, the world needs hope but maybe next time, we could do with a little less punching.


GRADE: A-

MAN OF STEEL
Directed By: Zack Snyder
PG-13, 144 minutes

SMASH: A Retrospective -- Feb. 6, 2012 - May 26, 2013

It's been one week since the series finale of Smash. It came and went without too much fanfare and only 2.4 million people tuned in to see the final episode. Heck, even NBC barely realized it was on. Wasn't this supposed to be the show that saved NBC?! What the hell happened?!

Let's take a minute and rewind to Super Bowl 2012, we were all there, weren't we? Aside from the onslaught of ads previewing the new season of The Voice, which was kicking off right after the big game, NBC's main concern was promoting the hell out of their new, buzzy, critically-acclaimed project, Smash. Initially, it looked like they were onto something. The promos were slick, exciting and promised an upscale, beautifully shot (and performed) glimpse into the world of the Broadway musical. A world that many knew little about but certainly something many would be interested in. Simply put, it looked like NBC had a big, huge hit on their hands.

The pilot premiered to the tune of 12 million viewers and audience and critical reaction were favorable. And for those opening 46 minutes, they had the right to be. The pilot set up a rich world and an interesting, distinct set of characters that held a lot of promise. Debra Messing and Christian Borle played Julia and Tom, a convincingly loveable playwright duo hellbent on finding a new hit. Jack Davenport played Derek, the successful, albeit creepy, director, and Angelica Huston served as the Broadway producer, Eileen Rand, with enough martini tossing sass to put any showbiz diva to shame. The premiere also introduced us to Katherine McPhee (in her first major gig post American Idol) as Karen and Megan Hilty (an accomplished young face from Broadway) as Ivy – two young, aspiring actresses eying the coveted role of Marilyn in "Bombshell," the musical Julia and Tom dreamed up (and the show's central story engine.) The pilot ended with Karen and Ivy both belting out "Let Me Be Your Star," an original song by composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who signed on to compose original music for the series. The number was one of the finer endings to a pilot I've seen. It perfectly set up the central conflict of the series while leaving the audience thrilled and excited for what's to come. For a moment, I REALLY was. Then.... the "what's to come" came.

Almost immediately, Smash went from a matured, well-performed, written and structured piece of nighttime drama to a laughable, embarrassingly scripted, piece of melodrama that essentially defined a new form of TV viewing known as "hate-watching." The promising plot threads developed in the pilot were soon tossed out the window to make room for boring subplots involving adoption, marital issues, awkward affairs and Ellis.

Jaime Cepero as Ellis; Photo Courtesy: NBC

LOOK AT HIM! This is what I imagine him looking like at the meeting with Theresa Rebek (oh yeah, she created the show) when they cheers-ed to his character ruining everything and anything potentially promising throughout the series. Originally, Ellis served as an assistant to Tom, which makes perfect sense. A well-accomplished Broadway composer WOULD have an assistant. In the pilot, Ellis is actually the one to suggest to Julia and Tom that Marilyn would "make for a great musical." Everyone should have realized it right then and there that this was a tad fishy. Would the writers really make this awkward kid the catalyst for the entire freaking premise of the show?! But at the time, I think we all shrugged it off as "eh, he's kind of irritating but he'll fade into the background once this thing gets going..." Well, he faded into the background, all right – into EVERYONE's background. He was everywhere! The show integrated him into practically every scene and storyline for no apparent reason. He was working for Tom and then for Eileen, then he had a girlfriend and then he poisoned Uma Thurman's (she guest-starred towards the end of season one) smoothie?! He never served a greater purpose as a character aside from throwing a wrench in any possible interesting story development, which stood as one the biggest issues with the show as its first season went on.

As more episodes passed and the general decline in quality continued, it became clear the original vision of the pilot had been lost somewhere at sea or in the mind of Theresa Rebek. The refreshing original music and inspired covers were tossed aside for lazy, wedged in musical numbers featuring the latest chart topping single or insane, what were they thinking, fantasy numbers. Remember "A Thousand and One Nights," the Bollywood number that happened because, actually I don't know why it happened, but it happened?! It was one of the most insane things I've ever seen on television, and I kind of loved it. It featured the entire cast, plus a number of background dancers, singing and dancing to a rather catchy Bollywood "type" song. It was SO out there and SO unnecessary that it felt like the show itself had realized it had officially lost its purpose and vision and just decided to throw its hands in the air and say – well, here's THIS. This is the moment I remember officially moving over to the dark side and joining "Team Hate-Watch." It took me until Episode 12, but it happened. The number was so bonkers, so far removed from the show I saw just a mere 11 episodes ago that it was evident that the show Smash was originally meant to be was long, long gone.

Photo Courtesy: NBC - Also, God for letting this happen

Throughout its first season, Smash tracked the feud between Ivy and Karen over who will win the role of Marilyn, the demise of Julia's marriage, and the eventual out-of-town tryout for "Bombshell." In short, it doesn't sound so bad, but the layers of muck that covered up that road were the issues. The lack of focus, the melodramatic plot twists, the back and forth of who would be playing Marilyn. It just got exhausting, very quickly. The amazing thing was even throughout all of that negative, I still held onto a glimmer of hope. SOMETHING kept me tuned in. I don't know what, but it was there and by the end of the season, when over half of the pilot's audience had sad bye for good, I was one of the 6 million 'fans' still watching.

After the insanity of season one, I only scraped the surface by the way, the show was still renewed for a second season.

Leading up to the premiere, NBC and the creative team were promising a reinvigorated, more focused and "better" Smash. Original show creator, Theresa Rebek was fired, mainly for her large part in the train-wreck of season one, and new showrunner, Joshua Safran (Gossip Girl) was brought on to help get the ship sailing again. From the early press reactions, it sounded like there was hope. In his takeover, Safran removed a lot of the problem characters and introduced some new ones. The most notable being Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls; American Idol) and Jeremy Jordan (another Broadway star; fresh from his Tony nominated role in Disney's Newsies). All of these changes seemed inspired and bold and for all the hate-watching that went on during its initial season, I was eager to see if the changes bettered the show and Smash had indeed improved.

After the two-hour premiere in early February, my thoughts were mixed. First, I HATE two-hour premieres. For returning series it's not as bad, but when NBC was treating the return as "the new Smash," why not give your audience one solid hour of programming and leave less room for missteps?! I'll never understand it. Anyway, in its return, the show had stabilized a bit. There were no insanely, ridiculous characters, the seriousness of the world had returned and there were far fewer eye rolls than in the latter episodes of season one. The premiere continued the trials and tribulations of "Bombshell," while also introducing two new aspiring talents, Jimmy Collins (Jordan) and Kyle Bishop (newcomer, Andy Mientus). Jimmy and Kyle were friends/writing partners working on a new musical together. Karen takes an interest in their endeavor and vows to help them get noticed and have their work heard. These two characters were the most important developments of the premiere (Jennifer Hudson's role ended up being a short-lived bit of stunt casting) as it set up two new conflicts for the series going forward – a show vs. show plot with Karen playing both sides, and also Karen's new romantic interest with Jimmy. I never really liked when Smash devoted too much time to relationship stuff because it was never good at drawing believable or interesting conflict from its characters that way. This time around, I thought it might work since they would be working together on the new musical and the premiere also alluded to a dark past for Jimmy which was kind of intriguing. 

The first hour of the premiere ended on Jimmy singing "Broadway, Here I Come," an original song composed by Joe Iconis, who signed on to pen more current, youthful music for the show's second season. The scene (and song) is probably my favorite from the show in its entirety. It was alive with energy, expertly performed by Jeremy Jordan, and tinged with a dark, sadness that I always felt the show was capable of. In that moment, I sat up on the couch and thought, for a moment, Smash was back.

Jeremy Jordan as Jimmy; Photo Courtesy: NBC

The following morning the overnight ratings were released and the headlines roared. "SMASH CRASHED!" The show dropped 71 percent from its first season premiere and only 4.5 million viewers tuned in.

In that moment, I think everyone knew the show was a dead. Viewers who loved the insane, over-the-top circus of season one didn't care anymore now that the show took itself seriously and those who were interested in watching a show that took itself seriously had left long ago. It didn't help that after the premiere, familiar problems returned and some new problems arrived. The storylines continued their dive into banality and predictability and though, initially interesting, Jeremy Jordan's character became an annoying, miserable, entitled jerk thus making his relationship with Karen unbearable to watch. Admittedly, it was still nice to have him around for musical numbers, but THAT was another issue. Smash's scenes paled in comparison to the musical numbers that often were rather impressive. It all just started to feel rather pointless. The ludicrousy of season one was gone but it turns out not much was left after that.

Now, not everything was bad. There were some definite musical highlights and a renewed focus on the world of Broadway and the actual process of getting a show to opening night. Especially in episode 11, "The Dress Rehearsal," where the dramatic conflicts were exclusively drawn from characters creative differences and opinions about THE SHOW and not who slept with who, or the other usual soap. Unfortunately by this time, the show had moved to Saturday nights and was averaging 1.9 million viewers.

As the season continued, it devoted much of its time to the story of "Hit List," the new musical that Jimmy and Kyle co-wrote. The season long arc played out as an homage to story of Rent's road to Broadway and the untimely death of that shows creator, Jonathan Larson. Smash told the story beat-for-beat. The off-Broadway beginnings, the cult following, and yes, even the death of the show creator. In a rather surprising cliffhanger, Kyle is offed by an upcoming car after he angrily walks home after firing Jimmy from his role in "Hit List." You see, Jimmy had delved into that "mysterious past" mentioned earlier, and started using hard drugs again. Snooze. After Kyle's death, the following episode devoted the entire hour to the characters mourning/coping in different ways. It tried very hard to be about something but was so hackneyed and out of left field that it came off cheap, undeserving of the drama, and maybe a little offensive. It was the most Season 1 the show had felt in a long time and hindered the final few episodes as the season headed to it's finale.

Last Sunday, the show ended at The Tony Awards, where "Bombshell" and "Hit List" competed for what seemed like every. single. award. The two-hour finale wrapped up the series as it lived. With some highs and lows. The first hour was a bit more successful as it showed everyone's final preparation for the awards and their last ditch efforts to get the right nominations for the right people. I'm not sure if this is actually how things work in the world of Tony nominations, but it was entertaining and felt urgent and a necessary step for the show and its characters. To kick off the final hour, the entire cast performed "Under Pressure," and it was kind of awesome. It was totally over-the-top but for some reason, it resonated with me. First, it was the only scene to ever show the entire string of series regulars in a single number. It began with them all in separate locations throughout the city but as the number continued they all ended up together, in an empty theatre, standing on a dimly lit stage – united.  When you tie it directly to The Tony Awards, it was a tad on the nose but if you apply it to Smash wrapping up for good, it was oddly moving and kind of depressing. Take a look at these lyrics...

'Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the Night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure

I don't know what exactly any of this means for Smash or its characters or stories but I just thought it worked. Something in there worked and I loved it.

The final number of the finale and series, "Big Finish," was of course performed by Karen and Ivy, and was an ode to the series itself. It's certainly not one of the series most memorable performances but it at least allowed the finale to end with some sense of finality and acknowledgement of the dramatic ups and downs the series endured. Sadly, the number is intermixed with a few short scenes that were meant to set up the third season, but WHAT CAN YOU DO?!

Karen and Ivy performing "Big Finish"; Photo Courtesy: NBC

Even with all its problems and all my negative feelings towards it, I still look at Smash as a sad story of a brilliant premise with incredible potential that just continued to hit the wrong notes even when it was trying hard to hit the right ones. It's a shame that through 32 episodes the show couldn't get everything to click into place. And of course, by the second season, even if it had, no one was around to witness it. If it eventually clicked, I think it would have been a really special series. Instead, we are left with a lesson in what happens when just about everything goes wrong for a television series.

Even so, I had a blast keeping up with the show – whether it be hate-watching during its lowest lows or showing respect as it tried to climb out of the trenches, it was always entertaining. That's really one of the biggest things we ask from television and theater alike, right? I'll certainly miss the world of Smash, partly because I think a show like this could have worked, and worked well, but also because it had a lot of ambition. It took chances and you simply can't write off a something that strives to be bold and takes risks. It's just a shame that a lot of those risks never paid off the way they should have.

Regardless, I hope Smash isn't soon forgotten, even though its final curtain has closed. It deserves to be remembered and serve as inspiration for other networks and writers to think big and take a chance on the something different.

And for millions who look from afar.
I'm what you’ve been needing
It's all here and my heart’s pleading.
Let me be your star!