Salon.com > Matt Zoller Seitz http://www.salon.com Mon, 28 May 2012 00:30:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Movies for a desert island http://www.salon.com/2012/01/07/movies_for_a_desert_island/ http://www.salon.com/2012/01/07/movies_for_a_desert_island/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=11927041 You don't need much of a setup for this one: It's a Desert Island List of visual media that I'd like to have with me if I were shipwrecked.

Here are the rules:

1. This list is composed solely of motion pictures and TV shows. Music, books, paintings and other media are not included. It is assumed that you'll have an indestructible DVD player with a solar-recharging power source, so let's not get bogged down in refrigerator logic, mm'kay?

2. You can list 10 feature films, one short and a single, self-contained season of a TV series.

3. NO CHEATING. Every slot on the list must be claimed by a self-contained unit of media. You can put all 15 hours of "Berlin Alexanderplatz" on the list because it's considered one long film (or if you saw it in Germany, a TV miniseries), but you can't put "The Godfather" and "The Godfather, Part II" in the same slot because "it counts as one long film" (it doesn't!). You can't put 10 seasons of "I Love Lucy" on their, either, or "'Twin Peaks' up through the part in Season 2 where we finally find out who killed Laura Palmer." Part of the fun of this exercise is figuring out what you think you can watch over and over, and what you can live without. Stick to the parameters, otherwise we'll have human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, and mass hysteria.

I've listed my short film pick and my TV season first, followed by a list of 10 theatrical features in alphabetical order. Please add your own picks to the Letters section; I want to see what you'd put in your suitcase.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/01/07/movies_for_a_desert_island/feed/ 200 2011′s best TV episodes http://www.salon.com/2011/12/31/2011s_best_tv_episodes/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/31/2011s_best_tv_episodes/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10760881 This is the top half of my year-end list of the 20 best individual episodes of scripted TV dramas and comedies. This slide show covers items 10 through 1. To read 20 through 11, which ran last week, click here.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/31/2011s_best_tv_episodes/feed/ 22 Nostalgic for everything http://www.salon.com/2011/12/27/nostalgic_for_everything/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/27/nostalgic_for_everything/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10806051 "Nostalgia is denial -- denial of the painful present," says a philosopher (Michael Sheen) in Woody Allen's surprise hit "Midnight in Paris." "The name for this denial is Golden Age thinking: the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one [that] one's living in. It's a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present."

If nostalgia is indeed a flaw, it's one that many 2011 films and TV programs shared. Some of the year's most talked-about movies and shows gave themselves over to some form of nostalgia -- unabashedly reveling in, and idealizing, not just an earlier time, but the artists and artistic styles that we associate with that time, and the rush of emotion that accompanies our fantasies of same. Allen's "Midnight in Paris" -- his top grossing movie ever -- is Exhibit A. It's an immensely likable reworking of his short story "A Twenties Memory" in which an Allen stand-in, screenwriter Gil (Owen Wilson), magically gets to travel back to the time of Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. But it's merely the keynote address in a year of budget-busting, production-design-showcasing, time-tripping cinema and television, a year that invited viewers not merely to experience stories from another time but to slip into them with deep pleasure and savor their restorative power.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/27/nostalgic_for_everything/feed/ 51 TV’s best episodes in 2011 http://www.salon.com/2011/12/24/tvs_best_episodes_in_2011/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/24/tvs_best_episodes_in_2011/#comments Sat, 24 Dec 2011 01:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10760861 If most sports is a game of inches, most TV is a game of episodes. That's why, at year's end, I always feel a bit weird compiling a list of the year's best series: Even a great series can have a bad episode, or a string of them, and even inconsistent or mostly mediocre series can produce memorable, even great installments.

Back in 2005, when I was a TV critic for the Newark Star-Ledger, I started publishing a yearly list of the best individual episodes of scripted TV shows. I'm continuing that tradition here at Salon with a citation of my 20 favorite episodes of scripted comedies and dramas.

For suspense's sake, we're breaking my 2011 list into two installments. This week's covers items 20 through 11 on my list; next Friday we'll count down the top 10.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/24/tvs_best_episodes_in_2011/feed/ 8 The best nonfiction TV of 2011 http://www.salon.com/2011/12/22/the_best_nonfiction_tv_of_2011/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/22/the_best_nonfiction_tv_of_2011/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:40:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10796641 10. "Deadliest Catch" (Discovery)

The only so-called reality program to make my list, this Discovery Channel program is really a documentary series about the toll taken by relentless physical labor. The Cornelia Marie and its rivals fish icy waters for crab, hoping to up their totals, but the show itself really doesn't care all that much about who's ahead and who's behind. It's always more interested in the human stories -- the most central of which found the Cornelia Marie's crew struggling to muddle on after the death of Capt. Phil Harris last season. Cable is currently filled with series that desperately want to be "Deadliest Catch" -- see "Ice Road Truckers," "Swamp People," etc. -- but they tend to miss the atmosphere and deep attention to psychology that make this series so special.

9. "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" (HBO)

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/22/the_best_nonfiction_tv_of_2011/feed/ 3 Should “Homeland” have quit while it was ahead? http://www.salon.com/2011/12/19/should_homeland_have_quit_while_was_ahead/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/19/should_homeland_have_quit_while_was_ahead/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:05:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10624651 Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck might not seem to belong in a review of a searing cable drama about terrorism, but bear with me, OK? In the climax of "Show Biz Bugs" (1957), in which Bugs and Daffy compete for the right to claim top billing in a show, Daffy decides he's had enough of being bested by the rabbit and hauls out his trump card, self-immolation. "I must warn those with weak constitutions to leave the theater for this performance," the duck says, then swallows gasoline, nitroglycerine, gunpowder, uranium and a lit match, and explodes. "That's terrific, Daffy!" Bugs exclaims from the wings, over thunderous applause. "They loved it! They want more!" "I know, I know," says Daffy's ghost, floating toward the rafters. "But I can only do it once!"

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/19/should_homeland_have_quit_while_was_ahead/feed/ 20 The best TV shows of the year http://www.salon.com/2011/12/17/the_best_tv_shows_of_the_year/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/17/the_best_tv_shows_of_the_year/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10477821 We're living in some kind of new Golden Age of scripted TV, and this year's best offerings were amazing. I decided to be rigorous and restrict myself to just 10 entries. It wasn't easy.

These 10 picks represent what I think were the most creative and consistently satisfying scripted comedies and dramas that aired on American TV during 2011. If I'd expanded the list to account for shows that were somewhat more erratic but that produced terrific individual episodes, this list would have had 30 or maybe even 40 titles on it. If anybody's curious, I may post the expanded list in the comments section.

You may see some of the runners-up cited next week, when I will present a slide show honoring the best individual episodes of scripted series. There might be an article listing the best nonfiction programs as well.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/17/the_best_tv_shows_of_the_year/feed/ 53 Searching for Oscar hints in Golden Globe nominations http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/did_golden_globes_get_it_right/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/did_golden_globes_get_it_right/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10416121 Andrew O'Hehir:

Since the Golden Globes nominate both films and actors in two streams of categories -- what they call "drama" vs. "musical or comedy" -- they have the luxury of not winnowing down the awards race at all, and just handing things out promiscuously. So you have to look at the Globe nominations and ask, in effect, "Which of these things does not belong here?"

For instance, I have difficulty believing that "The Ides of March," "50/50" or "Bridesmaids" are legitimate Oscar contenders, and all three of those just got best-picture nods from the Globes. (Given that we don't know how many films the Academy will nominate, I suppose their presence creates intriguing possibilities.) Similarly, there were some improbable nominations in the acting categories. No one seriously expects Brendan Gleeson or Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Kristen Wiig to be among the nominees on Oscar night -- which is not in any way a suggestion that their work doesn't deserve it. I'm strictly playing horse-race analyst here.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/did_golden_globes_get_it_right/feed/ 5 Where can “American Horror Story” go from here? http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/where_can_american_horror_story_go_from_here/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/where_can_american_horror_story_go_from_here/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:26:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10388141 "Just because we're dead doesn't mean we don't have wants ... desires," said Tate, the pouty, bratty, forever-teenage rubber-suit-wearing, mom-of-the-house raping, suicide pact-making ... sorry, I feel like there should be about 12 more adjectives in there, because the ghostly Tate, like most of the characters on FX's aggressively lurid "American Horror Story," requires them. But let's stay focused on Tate's statement, because it's key. Yes, of course! He and the other ghosts have wants ... desires. And one of the many amazing things about the show is how, over the past few episodes, it has subtly moved the ghosts to the center of the narrative, to the point where the ever-dwindling number of living characters have started to seem like the supporting cast on a show that they were ostensibly the stars of. (Of course, now that they're all dropping like flies -- even money on Constance to bite the dust by the end of season two -- they get to be at the center of the story again.)

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/where_can_american_horror_story_go_from_here/feed/ 14 “Glee” has a Judy Garland Christmas http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/glee_has_a_judy_garland_christmas/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/glee_has_a_judy_garland_christmas/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:20:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10350451 All together now, readers: If you hate "Glee" so much, Matt, why do you keep watching it? I don't know, folks. At the risk of sounding like a masochistic romantic who's stuck in a tortuous relationship -- Dear diary, I can't TAKE this anymore, it's horrible and it's KILLING me ... but OH MY GOD IF YOU COULD HAVE SEEN THE GIFT SHE BOUGHT ME! -- I have to go on the record about last night's "Glee" Christmas special. It was brilliant.

OK, actually, I should qualify that -- the middle section was brilliant. The wraparound stuff was the "Glee" usual: silly, pandering and dull. During the final number -- "Do They Know It's Christmas," set in a soup kitchen that no doubt was populated by the children of "Glee" cast and crew -- even the actors seemed bored, except for Jane Lynch, whose Coach Sylvester was acknowledging the first anniversary of her sister's death. (Tear cup.) But OH MY GOD IF YOU COULD HAVE SEEN THAT MIDDLE SECTION, DIARY! Presented in black-and-white, it perfectly re-created the set, the tone and even the camera moves of "The Judy Garland Show" Christmas special from 1963, but with a cultural flash forward/flashback quality, presenting a patchwork quilt vision of America that wouldn't have gotten past the network censors four decades ago.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/glee_has_a_judy_garland_christmas/feed/ 12 Dear HBO: Renew “Enlightened” http://www.salon.com/2011/12/13/dear_hbo_renew_enlightened/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/13/dear_hbo_renew_enlightened/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:45:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10316121 "Everything can be transformed," said Laura Dern's character, Amy Jellicoe, on last night's first-season finale of "Enlightened," walking to work and then through the corridors of her office. "Every single thing. Goodness exists. It's all around. It's just sleeping. It can be wakened."

HBO, which is reputedly on the fence about renewing this critically acclaimed but low-rated series, should recognize the goodness on its schedule Monday night and give "Enlightened" another season. It's charming, intelligent, uncomfortable, often moving. Executive produced by Dern and writer-producer Mike White, and written by White, "Enlightened" is doing things that no series has ever done, in a tone that no show has ever attempted. And on top of that, it feels like a definitive statement on a troubled era.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/13/dear_hbo_renew_enlightened/feed/ 13 Hateful campaign targets “All-American Muslim” http://www.salon.com/2011/12/12/hateful_campaign_targets_all_american_muslim/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/12/hateful_campaign_targets_all_american_muslim/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 20:45:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10315646 And now, a dispatch from the Department of Corporate Cowardice: The home improvement chain Lowe's has pulled its advertising from TLC's documentary series "All-American Muslim" (Sundays 10 p.m./9 Central) because ... Well, because ... It's baffling, really. I guess it's because the series portrays the vast majority of American Muslims as law-abiding citizens who just want the same right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness enjoyed by others. It's the 21st-century Muslim-American version of a show that might have run on network TV during the civil-rights era in hopes of persuading bigots that black folks weren't just looking to knock the white man down and take his women.

Lowe's immediately became the target of online boycott campaigns. On its corporate Facebook page, Lowe's said that: "It appears that we managed to step into a hotly contested debate with strong views from virtually every angle and perspective – social, political and otherwise – and we’ve managed to make some people very unhappy. We are sincerely sorry."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/12/hateful_campaign_targets_all_american_muslim/feed/ 129 “Boardwalk Empire” does not want your forgiveness http://www.salon.com/2011/12/12/boardwalk_empire_does_not_want_your_forgiveness/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/12/boardwalk_empire_does_not_want_your_forgiveness/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:45:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10315562 "To the Lost," the second season finale of "Boardwalk Empire," may be remembered as the moment when "Boardwalk" finally, finally hit its stride. This isn't the first time the HBO drama has impressed me -- even the worst episodes have had great scenes or moments -- but there was something special about this one. It was dead solid perfect in almost every department. I think a lot of it comes back to the episode's consistency of tone, and the show's comfort with having settled on it.

I thought about tone during that haunting close-up of the soon-to-be-late James Darmody smoking a cigarette by an open window. There was really no reason why such a simple moment should have summoned such force. Michael Pitt wasn't selling the moment at all. He was just sitting there smoking. Yet the accumulated weight of Jimmy's trauma -- his wife's death and his tragic inability to feel his way through it thanks to his war experience, his Oedipally perverse childhood, and a life spent among super-macho gangsters -- came through loud and clear. Pitt's posture, gestures and slightly mask-like expressions were exactly right, just as his gentleness during the beachside pony-ride scene with Jimmy's son was exactly right, and as his ego-free coolness during that rain-soaked final sequence was exactly right. I love how Pitt delivered Jimmy's statement to Nucky about what to expect after your first killing: 48 hours of nausea. It reclaimed a bit of dignity for Jimmy in his final moments -- the implication being that this was first time that Nucky, the butcher of Atlantic City, ever personally killed anyone -- but it was not particularly boastful or petty. Jimmy was just a guy who had nothing to lose, delivering information.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/12/boardwalk_empire_does_not_want_your_forgiveness/feed/ 43 Secret agenda: 20 classic spy movies http://www.salon.com/2011/12/10/secret_agenda_20_classic_spy_movies/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/10/secret_agenda_20_classic_spy_movies/#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10306585 There's one big problem with compiling a list of great spy movies: How exactly do you define a "spy movie"? Do the spies have to be employed by a government agency? Does the action have to be international, or can it be domestic, even local? Do the characters have to engage in deception and/or information-gathering, or can they mainly be assassins, like James Bond or Jason Bourne? Is the "assassin film" its own separate genre? If movie characters have nothing to do with international politics but engage in surveillance and deception and other classic spy activities, can their story be grouped within the "spy movie" category?

James Bond wouldn't spend five seconds contemplating any of that. He'd be too busy quaffing martinis with a diplomat's wife and telling a dealer to pass the shoe. He's represented on this list of great spy movies, along with grittier, more mundane depictions of espionage, deceit and international mayhem. I included a couple of TV programs as well as movies, because the genre's emphasis on character and atmosphere makes it especially well-suited to the small screen.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/10/secret_agenda_20_classic_spy_movies/feed/ 38 The controlled madness of “American Horror Story” http://www.salon.com/2011/12/08/the_controlled_madness_of_american_horror_story/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/08/the_controlled_madness_of_american_horror_story/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10300615 "Ladies and gentlemen ... the ham."

This may be the line that Jessica Lange was born to say, in the role she was born to play, on a TV show perfectly suited to her fluttery intensity. Her character Constance delivered it over a tight shot of a ham festooned with moist pineapple slices being thrust into the camera's lens, as if the show were being broadcast in 3-D. It was a perfect kick-off to "Smoldering Children," the 10th episode of the first season of "American Horror Story."

Written by "X-Files" veteran James Wong and directed by Michael Lehmann ("Heathers"), the hour greatly escalated the madness on this already demented show. Created by "Glee" executive producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the series seems to be inventing a new kind of horror -- a 21st-century, short-attention-span-theater version, with no lulls. The traditional buildup to the big scare? Booooo-ring. Perhaps operating under the assumption -- not unwarranted -- that most viewers are watching the program on DVR or illegal download and will just fast-forward to the "good parts" anyhow, they've decided to save us all the bother. Every few seconds there's a fabulously bitchy one-liner, a grim bit of exposition or a surprisingly deft transition between the two, or a beating or stabbing or disembowelment or horrendous searing of flesh, or a faintly S&M-dungeon-flavored sex scene, or a revelation that a character you thought was alive was actually dead all along, or that the heroine has been impregnated by both her husband and by a black-rubber-suited spectral hunk and is carrying both of their children.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/08/the_controlled_madness_of_american_horror_story/feed/ 26 “Sons of Anarchy” goes wonderfully crazy http://www.salon.com/2011/12/07/once_upon_a_time_in_charming/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/07/once_upon_a_time_in_charming/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:49:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10298787 My old friend David Dixon coined a phrase that popped into my head several times during the fourth-season finale of "Sons of Anarchy" -- maximum ludicrosity. It means just what you think it means: an already ludicrous story piles on twists so blazingly nutty that it hits a giddy new peak and becomes, in its way, sublime. This episode, which was written by series creator Kurt Sutter and Chris Collins and directed by Sutter, hit that point the second that the combined federal-local bust of the Sons of Anarchy, the Irish Kings and the Gallindo Cartel was preceded by two supposed members of the latter clan flashing CIA badges at assistant U.S. District Attorney Lincoln Potter. At first I thought it was a scam and wondered why Linc didn't tell them to take their thumbs off the ID photos on those "real" badges. But no: It turns out they were spooks all along!

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/07/once_upon_a_time_in_charming/feed/ 21 TV’s unconscionable spectacle http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/tvs_unconscionable_spectacle/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/tvs_unconscionable_spectacle/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:15:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10296082 The scariest, most disgusting show on television isn't "American Horror Story." It's "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

Bravo's unscripted series offers that horror movie gimmick of showing you unlikable people doing ill-advised things that you can't prevent no matter how loudly you yell or curse at the screen. But because the characters are -- in the physical sense, at least -- "real," and the world-shattering plot twist at the core of this season was telegraphed to the audience long in advance, what might otherwise seem a guilty pleasure seems instead a travesty, as depraved a spectacle as anything that has ever appeared on American screens.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/06/tvs_unconscionable_spectacle/feed/ 57 Martin Scorsese’s greatest movies http://www.salon.com/2011/12/03/martin_scorseses_greatest_movies/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/03/martin_scorseses_greatest_movies/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10282822 This has been quite a year for 60-something American filmmakers. Terrence Malick, who started directing in 1973, created the year's most divisive conversation piece with "The Tree of Life."  Woody Allen, who started directing in 1966, had his biggest financial success with "Midnight in Paris." Steven Spielberg, who directed his first feature-length movie 40 years ago, has two blockbusters coming out this month, "The Adventures of Tintin" and "War Horse." And Martin Scorsese, who made his directorial debut in 1966, has had another success with "Hugo," a film history-conscious 3-D art film for kids that finished second to "The Muppets" at the box office during its opening weekend and was just named film of the year by the National Board of Review. It's as good a time as any for a Best of Scorsese list -- as if I really need an excuse!

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/03/martin_scorseses_greatest_movies/feed/ 67 On “Weed Wars,” drug clichés go up in smoke http://www.salon.com/2011/12/01/on_weed_wars_drug_cliches_go_up_in_smoke/ http://www.salon.com/2011/12/01/on_weed_wars_drug_cliches_go_up_in_smoke/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:45:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10265478 "I run a family business, and the business is cannabis," says Steve D'Angelo, a central character in Discovery's new series "Weed Wars" and the co-founder and executive director of Oakland's Harborside Health Center, which distributes medical marijuana to almost 100,000 customers. D'Angelo's matter-of-fact statement sums up the tone of this series, which treats the Harborside Heath Center as just another family-owned (albeit nonprofit) business, ultimately not too different from a veterinary clinic, a hair salon or a tattoo parlor.

Well, OK, there is one major difference: Although the clinic's main product can be sold legally to any California resident with a medical permit to buy it, the federal government still considers marijuana a Schedule 1 narcotic, as dangerous to the republic as crack cocaine. That means that in addition to the usual entrepreneurial headaches, D'Angelo and his brother Andrew, the clinic's general manager, live in fear of a massive bust by the DEA on whatever pretext -- a catastrophe that would wipe out everything they've built.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/12/01/on_weed_wars_drug_cliches_go_up_in_smoke/feed/ 13 Why I hate “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” http://www.salon.com/2011/11/30/why_i_hate_i_hate_my_teenage_daughter/ http://www.salon.com/2011/11/30/why_i_hate_i_hate_my_teenage_daughter/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:43:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10276165 "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" (Wednesdays 9:30 p.m./8:30 Central) feels like the kind of show that would have aired on a broadcast network in about 1981. Filmed before a studio audience on sets lit brightly enough to make innocent suspects confess, it adheres to the old sitcom ratio of 80 percent nasty snark, 10 percent lame social criticism and 10 percent sentimental goo. The goo comes in near the end, so that you leave the show thinking, "Oh yes, these are decent people, I shouldn't be so hard on them," instead of picturing them being eaten by the zombies from "The Walking Dead," which is what I was doing throughout most of the pilot's running time.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/11/30/why_i_hate_i_hate_my_teenage_daughter/feed/ 14