Archive for March, 2009

HOLY CRAP.

Pilot News: Minka Kelly and Jason Dohring Hot for CW’s Body

Friday Night Lights’ Minka Kelly has landed the female lead on Body Politic, the CW’s pilot about an absurdly pretty gathering of D.C. up-and-comers.

Kelly will play Hope, a sweet Michigan gal who, after her mother dies, moves to Washington to connect with the father she never knew — a senator-turned-attorney general (played by Animal House’s Tim Matheson).

Also on board for Body Politic is Jason Dohring, playing a reporter for the Washington Post. Following his run as Veronica Mars’ Logan, Dohring most recently had a series regular role on CBS’ short-lived Moonlight.

let’s discuss how great this is.

1. minka kelly (friday night lights) is from MICHIGAN and moves to DC. sound familiar!?!? unfortunately, no one from michigan looks like her. actually, no one from dc looks like her.
2. jason dohring (veronica mars) is a washington post reporter. hahahahahhaahahahhaha. now we’re definitely in twilight zone. aside from the wire, the portrayal of journalists is always a travesty.
3. is it hard to believe that her father became a senator even w/ a bastard/estranged child? this plot point is actually likely the least absurd of the three. i mean, david vitter is still a senator …

i’m just … really excited about this. i just hope they don’t mangle DC geography like they always do. do you think they’ll be partying it up at smith point? or vomiting on the sidewalks of adams morgan? and let’s predict how many romantic strolls they’ll be taking on the steps of the lincoln memorial or along the tidal basin. dear body politic, here’s some advice: locals NEVER take leisurely visits to the mall unless their cousins are in town. way too many fat tourists waddling along the wide sidewalks or, even worse, riding on segways. i bet a lot of the action will happen in georgetown, where no young washington post reporter could possibly afford to live. unless it’s in a horrible group house or actually glover park.

i think i’d be a pretty badass consultant on a show like this. HIRE ME.

went to nyc this weekend, and i found that there is something that comes close to my utter disdain for hot and muggy summers in dc. that would be the first nice day of the year. in nyc. in soho. and especially in chinatown.

too. many. people. it’s as if there were never going to be another nice day in the world ever. if i were at home, i’d have stayed inside, or at least found me an abandoned section of grass. why would you ruin a perfectly nice day with so many god-forsaken people? got me.

for the record, the ideal day would be 45 degrees, no wind. warm enough to get away with cheap gloves and a nice coat, but cold enough to keep the streets clear. for biking on crowded trails, it has to be even colder. those power walkers are a hearty bunch. takes a bit more to get them out of the way.

got my tix to the midnight screening.

right now its rotten tomato score is 65%, which is not particularly comforting, but with such a loyal and insane fan base, a large number of haters is to be expected.

there are many reviews out there, but i liked the musings from this “nonreview” on zack snyder’s style:

Those ads declaring Snyder to be ‘the visionary director of 300′ may be a bit much, but there is no question at all that Zack Snyder is a man with vision, a director who is uniquely attuned to the very visual demands of screen storytelling. And he understands the subtlety of it; going in I thought that Snyder, in his self-admitted near slavishness to the book, might try to recreate the actual visual motif from the comic book version of Dr. Manhattan’s origin – a slowly falling photograph. He doesn’t, which indicates a serious understanding of where the visual storytelling of comic books and motion pictures diverge. That sequence is perfect in a panel-driven medium, but in film it would be ridiculously and distractingly stylized. While Snyder opted for an overly stylized approach to 300 – based on overly stylized material – here he reigns things in, bringing style but not gimmickry, making every scene gripping to look at but not putting directorial affectations in front of storytelling. Every moment in the film looks great, but not to the point where you spend the movie marveling over how great it looks.

this is very promising. when it comes to remakes and adaptations, i’m not one to obsess over faithfulness to the source material. as with most things, i’m not the sentimental type. as long as the new version stands on its own as an artistic/intellectual/enjoyable achievement, i can appreciate it on those merits alone. if it also stays true to the spirit and message of the source material, bonus points to the director/creator.

i’m just glad to see snyder realizes he’s making a movie — not a moving version of a graphic novel.

that being said, i post the trailers for your viewing pleasure:

all of a sudden dc is the best place to make shit blow up, like in 24 and heroes, almost to the point where the two shows are interchangeable. in previews for next week’s heroes, you actually have parkman saying “we’re running out of time!” with a bomb strapped on him. which show am i watching again? jesus.

i just wish they didn’t mangle DC geography, especially 24. they’re on the south side of the potomac river? too bad the potomac runs north-south. and when the news report says, “there’s been an explosion in the white house,” they show a picture of the the capitol building? come on now. i hope that was just creative splicing by the dude who put together the preview.

and while we’re talking about how absurd 24 is, let’s discuss its serious gender problem. there’ve been many words written about how all the women on 24 either die or ruin everything or both (exceptions: chloe and maybe this new woman renee), but the blonde FBI turncoat really takes the cake.

i ask: what the hell was the point of her existence. in no way was she necessary for the plot. she hacked into the servers? the guy could easily have done it. it’s not as if we know what their jobs are anyway. she took the fall for the guy so he could get away and wreak more havoc? nope, he got caught 20 minutes later. she exists to show how slimy he is? maybe, but he’s been out of the picture the past couple episodes. best character-building, evaaaa. she acts hysterical and ridiculous to follow the trend of all 24 women? yup.

btw, this is john carradine’s granddaughter. weird.

ABC is officially the worst station ever.

eli stone, pushing daisies, and now this.

and yet the truly awful grey’s anatomy lives. i would never want any of those wahoos as my doctor. or friend. or really around me eating a muffin.