Crafty Lefty's Fall TV Thoughts

TV blogging has taken a serious back seat this season for no other reason than…

I am not watching nearly as much television as in year’s past.

Those who know me, probably cannot believe this, but it is true. I used to be TV guy. I had three or four shows every night that I DVR’d and had to see each week. Now I have three or four shows I watch every week.

The reason for this is rather easy to understand. It is three parts:

1. Only one new show caught my interest.
2. Old shows lost my interest.
3. The new wrinkle in my life I like to call a girlfriend has eliminated some of my TV time – thankfully.

The shows from previous years that are still alive and well in my DVR are, dramas: Mad Men (though, I am several week’s behind), Brothers and Sisters and, sit coms: 30 Rock and The Office. Friday Night Lights makes the cut without a doubt, but is not on the list being that non DirecTV users have to wait until summer of 2010 to see the new season. If any of you idiots took my or any other person with any amount of intellect’s advice, we would have that show on primetime for many years to come.

Mad Men continues to produce exquisite television for the viewers on AMC. Mathew Weiner does a fabulous job crafting each episode with a meticulous level of detail unmatched by anyone now that The Wire is no longer on air. The character building and plot development throughout a season is worth the slower than average pacing. Those of you patient enough to last are rewarded in the end.

Brothers and Sisters has become my one and only soap opera drama I cannot avoid. The ensemble cast provides enough heartwarming moments to keep me coming back for my weekly melodramatic meltdown. In fact, the first three episodes had me in tears at the end of each. The misty-eyed moments more than make up for the over the top drama that can come across as forced and annoying.

NBC’s comedy Thursday dynamic duo of The Office and 30 Rock are staples for most humor seeking viewers. The shows rarely wow me, but always entertain and provide several laugh out loud moments each week. The main draw for me is the potential for each show to be unique and genius with their dialogue. Both creators and casts have the capability to put together 24 minutes of comedic bliss – give me more Tracy Morgan and Rainn Wilson and they’ll reach their performance pinnacle more frequently!!!!

The one new show lucky enough to find my DVR priority list this year is Modern Family. A comedy, Modern Family follows the lives of three very different, but very connected families. The show’s patriarch, Jay, played by Ed O’neil (also known as Al Bundy), recently remarried to a younger, Hispanic “trophy-wife” (who comes with a young boy) has a grown up son and daughter of his own. His daughter is married with three children. His son is gay and in a life partnership with whom, he has just adopted a baby.

The show catalogs each family’s distinct conflicts and everyday incidents that all families deal with – no matter the sexuality or ethnicity of the individuals involved. What makes the show such a joy to watch is the combination of excellent performances and hilarious writing. The show intertwines each story line in such a way that you never feel robbed of your favorite character or overwhelmed by one of your least favorite. With such a diverse cast of characters, there is something for everyone to hold on to. My favorite characters are Cam (The gay son’s very flamboyant partner) and Phil (Jay’s daughter’s quirky and caring husband). Yours might be the Latina sex pot Gloria (Sofia Vergara) with a fiery attitude filled with passion or even Al Bundy himself.

The beauty is that it’s yours to decide. If you have not already, you must give this show a chance. You will not be disappointed.

My lack of TV blogging in no way says that the small screen has nothing to offer. All of these shows are worth your time in spades. Sometimes less really is more. Each time you turn on your tube and peruse the list of recordings, your mood might call out a comedy with subtle witty dialogue from Jim and Pam or oh so not subtle and very slap stick humor from Tracy and Liz Lemon on the set of TGS. Perhaps you feel like snuggling up to someone special for an hour of drama on a Sunday afternoon. If that someone special simply cannot stomach an hour of Mad Men, let them take a nap in your arms while you get lost in the 60’s with Donald and Betty Draper and the office shenanigans of Sterling Cooper or the family dynamics of the Walkers. Better yet, sneak out of bed early to brew the weekend coffee and enjoy it on your own – most likely, they will not even miss you.

- Crafty Lefty

Date Night: Paranormal Moronic Activity to the Fourth Kind of Degree

Scary movies…what the hell are we thinking?

What causes so many moviegoers to opt for the chance to sit through two hours of misery? With so many more intellectually stimulating and emotionally uplifting options available, crowds and crowds of people consistently fill up the seats at their local theatres to view the latest installment of bone chilling, but albeit mostly terrible horror cinema.

The act of attending a scary movie with your girlfriend, group of friends, or even alone (yes, people do this…. not just me) might as well be an American institution. “As American as apple pie”, as they say. I’d prefer, “As American as large portions and fatness”, but that’s just me.

If you question my claim that scary movie viewing is an iconic American event, take a quick second to meander over how many “horror” movies you remember released to the theatres lately. Believe me, it is a full buffet. Hollywood is all about making money. Now that I think about, I’d truly prefer, “As American as greedy money mongers” – much better ring and more consistent with the theme of this post. Hollywood is greedy. Studio execs green light more run of the mill horror movies than any other genre because no matter how formulaic and unauthentic, people will line up and purchase tickets. Heck, we are so dumb we’ll see it twice. Why risk millions of studio dollars to make a potentially genius movie based off a one of kind script, when chances are, no one will see it? Were in a recession remember?

My girlfriend and I are guilty of falling for the horror movie seduction. This behavior is more seriously influenced by her desire to see these movies than mine, but I love the art of attending a movie so I always oblige. Lately, we have been fortunate and oh so unfortunate to catch the sensational Paranormal Activity and equally dismal The Fourth Kind. Both films follow in the footsteps of the Faux Documentary style of The Blair Witch Project. The filmmakers use hand held cameras or footage meant to be from real events. The actors are supposed to be real people or playing actual people supported by home video footage. The goal of the director is to create an allusion of reality. If the audience believes they could be watching something real, the more freaked out they will be – and – most importantly, the more they will tell their friends to go see the movie.

Paranormal Activity has capitalized on the viral impact a horror film can encompass more so than any film in recent memory. A small ad budget on Facebook encouraging viral behavior, coupled with a movie done so perfectly to fit its genre and all of a sudden it is a mega-hit. Is it real? It looks so real. It clearly is not real, but when watching the scenes unfold, you start to believe it could be. Even if you don’t believe, the images, pacing, and developing tension make it impossible not to get lost in the horror of the movie.

The Fourth Kind attempts to combine a Hollywood look and feel with the gritty-realness of a Paranormal Activity. In fact, the combination is so unique, I applaud the effort, but the film fails to deliver. Using known actors and going as far as to inform the audience of who they are and what their purpose is, the film recreates events supposedly documented by a Nome, Alaska psychiatrist, through split screen shots of “real footage” and their respective reenactments. The pace of the film is dull. The few tense scenes often come across as too bizarre to even develop the appropriate level of tension needed to scare an audience. The scariest part of the entire movie is the supposedly real heroine who looks more like an alien life form than anything else I witnessed.

The success of Paranormal Activity will no doubt spark an influx of horror movies signed off on by producers looking to rake in obscene amounts of profits at the box office. I don’t blame them. I’ll be there with my girlfriend in tow. Hell, she doesn’t even like scary movies. She, like most people, loves the idea of a scary movie. Once the experience starts to unfold, she is miserable. After it is over, she is terrified and beyond paranoid.

The sensation of fear and anxiety brought on by a scary movie is intriguing because you share that adrenaline with the people watching with you. With your girlfriend or boyfriend, you seek comfort in one another while also laughing at how you each react to being afraid. My girlfriend shrieks. I have the propensity to jump of out my seat or clench up at inopportune times. I cannot help it. What makes the viewing experience even more memorable in a crowded theatre is feeding off the entire audience. You are all experiencing it together. It becomes more than just a Friday night movie-date. It is an event.

A recurring event that Hollywood loves every second of.

- Crafty Lefty

"Hey Crafty, Where the heck did you go?"

"And why are you back in my life?"

I know, I know, you all missed me. I understand...sometimes I miss myself.

If my monthly blog archive were a corporate revenue chart, I would have been out of business well before this last dry spell. Take a quick look at the totals from March through July…yes, those trends lead to budget cuts, layoffs, bankruptcy, and if we were in pre depression times, suicidal leaps from city skylines. Luckily, (for me and all my lovely readers), I am not tied to corporate profit margin goals, only personal emotional highs stemmed from writing unique thoughts full of sharp, intelligent wit...among other things of course.

My relationship with this blog, lately, resembles the feeling a contestant on the, "Biggest Loser" must have towards fatty foods – a complete and utter shunning of it, but fantasizing about it always. Okay, maybe I'm not fantasizing about the blog (though, you know damn well those contestants are lusting over cheeseburgers and chocolate), but I certainly long to write more frequently. Fortunately for me, unfortunately for the attention of this blog, I have been overwhelmed the last few months. A plethora of fantastic distractions have held this blog hostage - new love, international travel, and shockingly no free time at work have kept me away from the keyboard and lost in a land of romance and adventure. This new chapter in my life (ode, to Bye Bye Single Guy – this blog should write one about me now) has left no time to slack off and write about the latest TV shows, big screen blockbusters, or any random event that might spur the gift of gab to spew out of my fingers and onto Crafty Lefty’s abandoned pages.

The recent launch of the Facebook fan page and some added pressure from those closest to me should light a fire under my ass and get me back to doing what I love to do – write about mostly nothing, but attempting to do it with a flair and charm worth reading. Heck, the nightly, “word of the day” sessions I now participate in ought to improve the vernacular arsenal of my posts. There are no delusions of grandeur accompanying this page, leading to a commitment of daily or even weekly updates. I will write when my life allows me to. I will write when my mind urges me to the lap top. I will write when things occur in life that can only be digested through a clever blog post.

The goal of the new Crafty Lefty Facebook page is two-fold. By putting the blog out on Facebook networks all over the web (here’s where delusions of grandeur might kick in), I instantly up the pressure anti to produce more content and keep honing my writing skills. Like always, “skills” is a term used very loosely here. At the same time, I am exploring Facebook’s variety of advertising offerings for the betterment of my own career development. As Facebook continues to take over the world, social media becomes increasingly more vital to a marketer. The more I know on the ins and outs of Facebook, the better I position myself for the future.

We’ll see how long I can keep this up…

Thanks for your patience.

- Crafty Lefty

Side Note: Upcoming posts will most likely be snapshot reviews of several movies I have seen recently. My reviews will range from, “must see” to, “don’t even think about it”.

I’m also working on some thoughts on the Faux Documentary Horror genre (think, Blair Witch Project and the current Paranormal Activity) that I will attempt to get published on www.emauellevy.com. Yes, I am actually getting paid to write on a film site…who would have thunk it?

John Hughes: 1950-2009

John Hughes passed away today after suffering a heart attack while on a morning stroll. Hughes, for those of you who do not know, is arguably the most important director of the 1980’s. He is responsible for a handful of movies that will live on in our hearts for generations. Directors will forever attempt to create the moments Hughes gave us in delightfully re-watchable 80’s comedies filled with all the things we love about the decade. Though often overly cheesy, there is no denying the impact his depictions of the teenage youth had on a generation.

It is a sad day for movie fans as a lot of us hoped for more nostalgic Hughes’ creations for years, but have had to settle for copycat attempts to re-create his genre in films as recent as I Love You, Beth Cooper staring Hayden Panettiere. Hughes had not directed a film since 1991’s Curly Sue staring James Belushi (and a bit part from Steve Carrell), but he had stayed somewhat in the business (from afar) as a writer and producer. His most recent well-known work as writer (story by, not screenwriter) came in Maid in Manhattan (2004 staring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes) and Drillbit Taylor (2008, starring Own Wilson). Though his directorial credit list is short, his imprint on film in the 80’s and early 90’s as a writer was tremendous.

Instead of mourning his loss, we should celebrate the images, characters, and stories he gave us during his incredible run. As a writer and a director, there are countless characters to look back on – over and over again. As a writer, he gave us the Home Alone franchise and introduced us to a baby-faced child actor named Macaulay Culkin. In The Great Outdoors, he hilariously scripted the rivalry between Chet Ripley (John Candy) and Roman Craig (Dan Aykroyd), while also giving us the scary, yet ultimately funny tale of the Bear that had been shot in the rear (and is now bare).

Hughes executed one of the original mainstream romantic comedy formulas of: unpopular boy loves popular girl; gets help from his best friend - unpopular girl; gets popular girl to like him only to realize he loves the unpopular girl in the end – in Some Kind of Wonderful. A formula we’ve seen in She’s All That, and Drive Me Crazy (among others).

80’s icons were routine staples in Hughes films. John Candy became a staple in his films with Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (alongside Steve Martin), Uncle Buck, and the previously mentioned The Great Outdoors (and even the polka band member that drives Mrs McCallister home to her son in Home Alone).

Hughes had an uncanny ability to deliver an ensemble cast of high school characters with an appropriate level of depth within each. The combination of clever writing and great acting from Hughes’ favorites (and other 80’s icons) Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and Matthew Broderick created Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and The Breakfast Club – we could all relate to at least one character in the bunch. At one time or another, everyone has felt like the athlete, the prom queen, the drop out, the nerd, or the outcast…

John Hughes’ cult classic films will be passed down from generation to generation through cable television and DVD anniversary releases for years to come.

Here are my top five Hughes written and directed films of the 80’s (in order of course):

5. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

4. Sixteen Candles

3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

2. Uncle Buck

1. The Breakfast Club

YouTube Youngsters

The viral impact of a YouTube video is a wonder in itself. Who knows what can catch fire and turn into a hit? My New Haircut has over 23 million views and all it’s simply a douche bag acting like a douche bag. The recent wedding party intro burst on the scene and ended up getting front page headlines on MSN and Yahoo! (I have several weddings in the works and will most certainly be pleading for one of them to include a choreographed dance in a church) – just brilliant.

The last several years, YouTube has given us a view into some extraordinary (and extraordinarily messed up) kids across America. Youths, now infamous in the online video world wide web of fame. My friends and I pass these videos back and forth on email chains while providing detailed commentary from all angles. Where will this kid end up? How did that kid learn to do that? What caused that to take place? Everyone has an opinion…

The commentary evolution has reached a point where we are now comparing YouTube Youth Phenoms against each other. The simple question of, who would you want to hang out with?

I’ll provide my top 4 YouTube youths off the top of my head, rank them, and provide an explanation of each:

4. Fat Iraqi Kid Runs the Block:


This kid is last for one reason only. He’d kick my ass and I am happy to admit that. Why hang out with someone who will most likely punch me and then throw a brick at my head? I have busted out the arm shimmy on the dance floor countless times though.

3. Little Boy Dancing…Too Funny:


A buddy said it best by stating, “All night dance party at a club with this kid….priceless”. Who teaches this kid the moves? Does he study MTV Jams? I would bet heavily that there is an older sibling in the picture pulling the strings…

2. Dalton Sherman:


The lone bright spot in an otherwise, sad list of characters. The energy of this boy would be fascinating to witness in person. I have watched this clip several times just to get motivated at my own job. And he is 10 years old. I’d love to hear him talk about where his confidence comes from.

1. Latarian Milton:


“It’s Fun to do Bad Things”…What more needs to be said?

Is it appropriate to laugh and make jokes about these children who have been placed on the Internet (most of the time) by someone other than themselves? Probably not…and it raises a larger, more serious question about what viral video could be exploiting. All that being said, you cannot ignore the fact that millions of people are watching them and that Google owns the platform in which anyone can post, comment, and review millions and millions of video. Why can’t we have a little fun in the process?

If there are other candidates out there, please send them my way. While traveling in Ireland, some friends and I ran across a young Irish boy in Dublin that we dubbed, Latarian O’Milton for his outrageous behavior in a Subway restaurant. We went as far as to wager the over/under on how long it would be until he had his own YouTube video making headlines on the net. I wish I had caught his antics on tape that day…

Feel free to argue against my order as well.

- Crafty Lefty

The Proposal

The Proposal:

A friend and I took in a matinee viewing of the romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds several weeks ago. I must preface this brief review with the fact that I am a big fan of both Bullock and Reynolds. Ever since 1994, when Annie Porter sprinted onto that Los Angeles bus and into our lives, rigged with explosives, destined to be saved by Officer Jack Tavern, I have had a strangely intense crush on Sandra Bullock. Speed still holds true along with The Rock as excellent re-watchable action comedies on cable. Ryan Reynolds’ unique comedic dialogue delivery separates him from the list of hunky mid-level leads and ought to elevate his status amongst Hollywood’s elite. His presence has resonated with me ever since Van Wilder, but the Proposal is his first Box Office success in an, “above the title role”.

Needless to say, I came in with relatively high expectations. In no way did I expect a sensational movie, but I thought the two of them, at the very least, would entertain me from start to finish. What I got was a film searching much too hard to find a laugh, characters I could not believe in, a romance that just did not work, and one supporting performance that almost had me exiting the theatre early.

Instead of laughing at the awkward moments the characters came upon, I just felt awkward for the movie. Instead enjoying the leads, I kept thinking about how they were able to possibly buy into the roles written for them. Critic after critic has commented on the performance of Betty White as Reynolds’ eccentric grandmother. Most all have raved about her ability to steal every scene she was in. She stole them, but only because she tried so hard to do so. The result is an obnoxious montage of bizarre attempts at humor that climaxed when Bullock goes for a walk in the woods, only to find White doing a tribal chant rivaling the most recent Real World Road Rules Challenge opening credits on MTV.

The only bright spot for me was the subtle, but accurate performance of Craig T. Nelson as Reynolds’ father. Nelson’s an underappreciated actor that always delivers – no more so than as the great Hayden Fox on the TV show Coach.

I am happy for both Bullock and (in particular) Reynolds for raking in such box office success, but I wish it had been for a better movie. The success of The Proposal has already landed Ryan Reynolds the lead in the upcoming Green Lantern. Comic book movies all make a lot of money…..but, will it be a good movie?

- Crafty Lefty

Movie Update!

It's been a while since I have provided some thoughts on the movie landscape so below will be a down and dirty rundown of what I have seen and whether or not it is worth your pretty penny to view it as well...

The Hangover:

Everyone and their mother has now seen this. If you have not, then you have been hiding under a rock or simply do not enjoy having fun. There will not be a more hilarious movie this year and there may not be one for some time. An instant classic with one excellent breakthrough performance and a film put together just about as good as it could be done. Vegas must be experiencing a massive influx of drunken idiots making very bad decisions. But it is fun to do bad things....

My one issue with the movie is that they never explained how Phil made it into the hospital. I would not care except that they TOLD us the camera had the evidence and then only showed him in the hospital bed, but how did he get there??!!

All in all, Todd Phillips (Old School, Road Trip) administered a borderline comedic masterpiece.

Go see this and you ought to find an alcohol serving theater or sneak booze in...

Taking of Pelham 1 2 3:

I saw this on Saturday afternoon and the best I can say is that the film kept me entertained the whole time, while never blowing me away. It would be challenging to screw up an action movie with Denzel as the good guy and Travolta as the villain. Travolta is underrated in his ability to play a sociopath. Tony Scott directs the flick and does his best to ruin it with his standard choppy, "I'm trying way too hard to make this movie about me when I should let my all-star cast do the heavy lifting". Scott is over the top consistently in his films and this might be the worst. Thankfully, there is enough of a storyline, cheesy action humorous dialogue, and great actors (Luis Guzman, Jon Turturro, and James Gandolfini are excellent as well).


Movies I want to see: Transformers 2; Public Enemies; My Sisters Keeper (yeah, I said it, I said it)...

That's all I got...Happy Father's Day!

- Crafty Lefty