Sherlock Holmes, Propaganda Minister

No your eyes are not deceiving you. Robert Downey Jr. is set to play the most bad ass, abdominal rippling, super stylized re-imagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary Sherlock Holmes since the misanthropic and crippled Gregory House. I've had the idea for this post percolating for quite a while so I am taking advantage of my brief respite from exams to make the most of it. The upcoming film, set for release next November, will be directed by former Madonna Flame and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Guy Ritchie and will feature Jude Law as sidekick Dr. Watson and Rachel McAdams as "The Woman" aka Irene Adler. What's the plot? Well I have no idea but just look at Downey Jr! Knowing that Irene Adler, Holme's only potential love interest in the canonical literature, is set to be a character, maybe things start to get personal and Holmes has to lay down the law old school style with his fists as well as his brains. Either way, with such a strong cast and cult-favored director, I have high expectations for this film.

That said, however, the new Holmes flick represents a radical departure from the Sherlock Holmes films of yore, helmed by such legendary actors as Sir Basil Rathbone in a string of films in the 1930s-1940s. No longer, perhaps, will Holmes so elegantly and demurely puff at his Calabash and explain his "elementary" logic to his adoring fans as he apprehends Britain's most ruthless criminals. As much as recent revamps such as the Batman franchise have turned darker and more ominous, in a sense all Christopher Nolan had to do was to update the grim Gotham universe that Tim Burton conceived 16 years ago for a new generation of movie-goers. As much as I would love to see the notion of genius stylized on film, I can't help but worry that the incorporation of a literal ass-kicking Holmes may somehow taint the charm that the character had always had for me.

Not only that, but in my mind I will always miss the Sherlock Holmes who I grew up with on film, as my family had all of the Rathbone-Bruce films on VHS at home. I loved the films growing up as an extension of my love for all of the Conan Doyle short stories I had read even earlier, for Rathbone's now prototypical portrayal of the iconic character, and most of all for Bruce's comic relief as an inaccurately bumbling Dr. Watson. As I grew older however, particularly once I began studying diplomatic history in college, I grew to love the films for a new reason. You see, although the first two films in the series were set in Victorian England, as were the original novels and serials, the remainder of the series was itself "revamped" to take place in contemporary (read 1939-1945, WWII ravaged) Great Britain. Once I began actually learning about the history of the era, I noticed all of the references not just to the war as a backdrop to the films' setting, but I noticed the blatant propaganda that the producers must have injected into the films against Germany and for the UK, US, and Canada.

Take, for example, this clip (skip to 4:00) from the end of The Voice of Terror, a film based heavily upon the experience of Nazi radio propagandist Lord Haw-Haw. Not only does Holmes refer to the recent Battle of Britain, but at the end there is even an advertisement for war bonds to help subsidize the effort against the Nazis. Similarly, in the later Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon, Holmes defeats a now Nazi-sympathizing Professor Moriarty to again save Britain in the face of annihilation (skip to 8:30). In another film set in Washington DC, Holmes also goes on to quote PM Churchill's oratory delivered to the US Congress stressing the need for the world's great democracies to protect the freedom of the world (skip to 8:45).

Even those who don't have an unhealthy obsession with ancient Sherlock Holmes movies have likely seen similar overtly propagandistic scenes in classic film. The most famous film I can think of is Casablanca, released in late 1942 at the height of German expansion in Europe. Not only does the film plainly depict the freedom fighter Victor Laszlo as a hero, but the film also takes some below the belt jibes at the Nazis while they're at it. There's that time when Laszlo instructs Rick's orchestra to drown out the Nazi national anthem with the Marseillaise. And how about when Captain Renault throws out the bottle of Vichy water at the very end (skip to 5:00)?

During WWII, in fact, the US commissioned some of the era's greatest directors to produce military indoctrination and propaganda videos for the nation. The most famous of whom, Frank Capra, produced a slew of films and shorts that have become textbook examples of propaganda, namely Why We Fight (clip here), Know Your Enemy: Japan, and Your Job in Germany. Even children's cartoons of the era made vicious fun of the Japanese enemies at the time and likely played into some of the most egregious (yet also so bad they're good) examples of racial stereotyping in film: Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's and the infamous Long Duk Dong of Sixteen Candles fame.

So what has become of propaganda in mass market film in America? Well the US agency in charge of placing propaganda was dissolved in 1999 (great timing right?) and by no means did Watergate or the Vietnam War experience help matters. In fact, throughout the course of the war there was only one film that positively portrayed the struggle in Vietnam, John Wayne's The Green Berets (the closing song, which is worth a listen, was even a hit single). Contrasting with The Green Berets is a whole genre of films representing America's national catharsis with respect to the Vietnam War, some of the most famous of which may be Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Born on the 4th of July, and Platoon. This trend continues today even, as movie executives have learned the hard way that, just as one should never get involved in a land war in Asia, you should never set a film in the Middle East lest it suffer at the box office. Case in point? See The Kingdom, Jarhead, and Body of Lies just for a few. Just imagine though what the impact on public opinion could have been during the Bush administration if there were a centralized force disseminating pro-war material to all outlets of the media. Would we have accepted it? Would our views on the war have changed? Well I don't know about that, but I can tell you for a fact that Israel is milking its propaganda for all its worth, and I can promise you that young men the world over are all about the what Israeli Defense Forces are doing for its nation and for democracy and freedom in Middle East...or at least they're really into the women of the IDF.

I figured that I would just embed that video as a reward for any men that made it to the end of this beast of a post. Women, I'll keep my eye out for a men of the IDF calendar for you.

PS. Seriously!? The week after I say how wholesome guests on Sesame Street are Chris Brown had to go and beat the living daylights out of Rihanna before the Emmys? Come on!

This Post Brought To You By the Letter "J" and the Number "8"

I have to admit that, not counting the important stuff, and second to getting onto Jeopardy! of course, one of my greatest life goals is to be asked to make a guest appearance on Sesame Street. Why? Well I figure that to get onto Sesame Street you've got to be pretty famous and the producers must think you're wholesome enough to be a role model for millions of kids that watch the show everyday. Now that I think of it, maybe I could parlay an epic 76 episode win streak on Jeopardy! into an appearance on the show....(insert Scrubs style daydream here)...

Back to the point though, being a guest on Sesame Street is really about a lot of different factors. More than any other children's show in history, Sesame Street always sought not only to engage its "target" audience of pre-kindergartners at home that still need to learn their letters and numbers, Street's producers have also always sought to engage parents as well. Before Shrek made telling adult jokes in children's media popular, Sesame Street had long played off of pop culture icons and parodies in order to make the show appealing for parents as well. Why bother? Well producers figured that by engaging parents and siblings in their children's educational process that they would be able to amplify the educational goals of the show. Besides, do 4 year-olds really know who "bookaneer" Tina Fey is? Do they realize that that is actually Feist teaching you how to count to the number 4? And my lord, do they realize that the world's greatest magician is teaching them tricks...I mean illusions! In the same manner that pioneered ways to get kids to actually watch their half hour long program (they tested if targeted audiences were interested by playing a video of a squirrel dancing on the corner of the screen, how cool?), producers also realized that the pop-culture cameo can do the same to hold parents' attention spans as well.

That said, and without further ado, some of the finer cameos I have come across online.
-Robin Williams
-Jack Black
-Yo Yo Ma (a personal favorite)
-Robert De Niro (woof woof, hilarious)
-Natalie Portman
-Chris Brown
-NPH (for my HIMYM loving friends)
-And a special Sesame Street on Scrubs clip!

PS- This week's sign of the apocalypse: Dating a Banker Anonymous

Andy Samberg Loves The OC...And I Think It's Pretty Ok Too

A long time ago, while I attended a high school not so far away, there was once an existence without The OC. Then I remember being in the mall (yes, remember when that's all we had to do with ourselves?) and seeing a gigantic billboard with nothing but a beach sunset, a surfer, and a tag line emblazoned across the wall opposite the movie theater. Little did I know that that show would ultimately redefine the prime time-soap genre and make being a smart, nerdy, indy-music loving, pop-culture laden Jew cool again (or maybe for the first time, either way I'm all for it). And I'll even go so far as to say that season 1 of The OC was genius; I dare you to defy me (Annabiotics? Genius!). The fact of the matter is that, for at least one season, The OC had some of the wittiest banter on television and a semi-believable premise with well-written characters.

But I digress... it appears that I am not alone in my respect for The OC, for Andy Samberg has now proven to me in multiple ways that a little part of him too died when the show jumped the shark/nuked the fridge. Thanks to my ravenous love of Scrubs I couldn't help but notice that a particular web series on Andy's Lonely Island website featured none other than Sarah Chalke/Dr. Eliot Reid herself. The show? Why The 'Bu of course. You see, that's what young kids call Malibu now...or so says the series' tag line at least. The series is funny mostly for all of the tropes of teen soaps, dramas, and comedies of which it spoofs, in addition to some hilarious gags, most notably Frazzles the Squirrel's use of 3D glasses in episode 1 (trust me on that one).

As good as The 'Bu is, however, I was even more surprised to see that it is not alone among his OC riffing repertoire. Last season on SNL, Shia LaBoeuf guest starred in one of the greatest digital shorts of all time, Dear Sister, submitted for your approval below.


For comparison, the original source material is online here. The main gags here of course are just the farcical nature of the clip itself paired with its apt parody of the above-referenced love for indy artists (here Imogen Heap, also of Garden State soundtrack fame, though you may know here there as Frou Frou) by shows such as The OC.

Thankfully, we will not be running out of source material to parody any time soon either. Though The OC may have gone the way of the VCR, its spawn certainly have not. Not to get all "nodal" on you again, but let's think of what The OC and its creator, Josh Schwartz, have given us. There is it-show of the moment Gossip Girl, quirky spy-spoof Chuck, the Laguna Beach-Newport Harbor-The Hills-The City mega complex that airs on MTV, and even Baldwin Hills on BET (who knew?). The OC also popularized Death Cab for Cutie, Rooney, and countless other indy rock acts and enabled many to become mainstream successes (I mean come on, they dedicated an entire episode to attending a Rooney concert!). So enjoy all that The OC has given you and be thankful. And while you're at it, maybe watch The 'Bu also, it's pretty sweet.

PS- Sorry for the delay in posting, but I still do have to pass all of my classes here...And if you like Arrested Development skip to 4:00 in the following episode, love it.

PPS- Who is ready for Lost this Wednesday?

Season Premier of FOTC!

Unfortunately I think the episode is rather pedestrian with rather unspectacular songs. But if this is what it take to get Mel and Murray back after the Crazy Dogs...well I'll take it. Enjoy, hopefully.

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

What 10PM Leno Really Means

First off, apologies for the lack of posts for the past few weeks. Anatomy finals and tropical vacations have a way of cutting into your free computer time.

Now to the real business, which I have been planning to address for some time now. Over the past few years there have been two consistent trends in television. These are 1) Soaring cable ratings, and 2) Withering network ratings. Paired with the screen writer's strike last television season the net outcome has been devastating to network television as we all know and love it. For the most part, cable networks, with their repeat (CSI or Law and Order Marathons anybody?) and reality (Real Housewives of [name your city], The Laguna Hills City or whatever MTV airs, etc) weathered the storm well with ratings soaring and ad revenues continuing to flow in, many even showing record growth this past year. This is juxtaposed, however, by the catastrophic effects on the creative engines of network television. Not only did the writer's strike halt new episodes of already popular shows, but it prevented new series from ever being able to develop a fan base, and, quite noticeably this season, prevented new pilots and creative outlets to be developed.

The net result of these combined factors have been mixed. Okay, besides enabling Scrubs to be picked up for another season due to the fact that ABC cannot come up with a single halfway decent comedy show on its own, they're actually all bad. The most telling of all these signs, however, is Jay Leno's reassignment by NBC to the 10PM time slot, 5 days a week, in prime-time. What this means, in short, is that NBC has conceded the fact that it is unable to afford to develop or fund original programming for fully 1/3 of its weekly primetime schedule. The 10PM time slot has not yielded a bonafide hit since ER 14 years ago now and it's worth it to them to just pay Leno a fraction of the money it costs to otherwise operate that time (but still, $30M isn't too shabby for Leno) and to just rake in the ad revenue from whatever audience happens to tune in. No more "Must See TV", no more programming blocks, no more relying on a lead-in or lead-out show to anchor an entire night's worth of programming. NBC is acknowledging that the old model of network television simply does not work anymore. With the advent of DVR, internet, Hulu, torrents, and DVDs people watch shows because they are good, not because they're on after Friends.

This is one reason that explains precisely why cable networks have been so successful in capturing new audiences and develop ping shows. First, they invest intelligently in well-written, well budgeted dramas or comedies, such as Mad Men in the case of AMC or Monk in the case of USA. Second, they rerun them like it's their job to keep you watching and abreast of what is happening in the shows story lines so that new viewers can actually pick up mid-season. Third, they can focus on specific niches, for example TBS as the center for comedy and TNT for drama. It is this type of specialization that initially allowed cable channels to compete with network programming and now, thanks to the rapid proliferation of original programming on cable, has finally begun to cannibalize the audience of the big network channels. By trying to play a little bit to all audiences but completely to none, network television has effectively completed itself out of the business that it created. Leno at 10PM means network television finally can read the writing on the wall.

Of course we'll still have Lost and American Idol and all of the other shows people currently love on the big channels. But the hits will likely become fewer and far between as less money is available to finance expensive pilots and as networks begin to re-brand themselves within the context of their mini-cable empires (for example the NBC-Bravo-USA family or CBS-Viacom or ABC-ESPN-Disney), more equally sharing original programming between the existing channels. This does not mean the end of quality television. Only the end of television as we knew it growing up.

(Don't) Sign Me Up For That Job

Okay, I take it back...I don't wish that I became a food critic when I was 12. At least not if it meant I would come off like this kid does. And really, a critic talking directly to the owner/chef of the restaurant he is reviewing? Come on.

Retrospective: The Birth of "Gun-Fu"

is, quite simply put, a critical node in the development of the action genre. I bring this film up in particular because I was just discussing it with some friends with reference to the films of some other "greats" such as Jean-Claude Van Damme. So how exactly is this 1986 Hong-Kong film at the root of some of today's most influential and popular films?

Well for starters, up until the release of ABT Chinese-imported films were on the map pretty much because of one man and the genre he defined: Bruce Lee and the kung-fu flick. Outside of that genre however, America (probably for good reason) had little interest in anything else from across the ocean. That is, until director John Woo came along. Woo drew from and updated diverse influences, be they the hardboiled detectives of film noir such as Sam Spade, classic Chinese tropes such as heroic bloodshed, the gangster flicks of Martin Scorsese, or the kung-fu film itself. By switching out physcial prowess for pistols and explosions, however, Woo founded a new genre of film, gun fu, and a modern age of action films was born.

So where would we be without ABT? Well, there would be no international moviestar Chow Yun Fat and who knows if Crouching Tiger could have been the same otherwise. Woo's career wouldn't have taken off either, as he went on the make several other HK classics such as Hardboiled and The Killer, and also American hits such as Face-Off and Mission Impossible-II. The revenge genre would not have arisen, meaning no Oldboy for Park Chan-wook or Mexico Trilogy (or breakthrough) for Roberto Rodriguez. Without the bullet flying and gun-toting antics of Fat and his costars, the inspirations behind the fight choreography behind pivotal films such as The Matrix would be absent as well (let's add the careers of Keanu Reeves and Larry and Andy Wachowski for good measure too). The film once again made HK and Chinese film cool and paved the way for the re-emergence of classical kung fun films such as Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China and Jackie Chan's Rumble in the Bronx. As the film no doubt opened the way for other HK gangster flick's such as Infernal Affairs, without ABT we also would never have had The Departed, or for that matter Marty still would be Oscar-less.

I could go on, really, but I think enough is enough. Watch the clip below to see the scene that in my opinion redefined a generation of action films.