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Thursday, August 4. 2011

Misfits, Iwan Rheon & British TV

I am loving British television lately - there are so many great shows out there that I never knew about until recently. Misfits is probably my favorite. It's really amazing.

Reviewers are calling it a cross between Skins and Heroes, but lots of the cast members seem to dislike that description in their interviews. It's about five troublemakers who end up doing probation work and getting hit by a storm that gives them Heroes-like superpowers... that they use in the most un-hero-like of ways.

Suffice it to say it is a fantastic series with a plot that is surprisingly character-driven - and it's the development of these characters that makes it worth watching. This, combined with its gritty, realistic portrayal of young people (the type that get probation, that is) has made it absolutely perfect for the writing that sole creator and scriptwriter Howard Overman infuses into the series: it's a dark comedy that is definitely both dark and funny. 100% recommended.

Americans can now watch it on Hulu, here.

A third season is currently in the works, as well as a mini-prequel joining the seasons set to be released some time soon. It features the exit of one of the most popular members of the cast - Robert Sheehan - who is admittedly hilarious. I'm actually eager, however, to see what the cast dynamic will be like without him because he does tend to overshadow the cast, especially in interviews outside the show. I want to see what the other actors can do as well -- and for those of you who've made it to season two, you know that they all are brilliant.

That said I'm also looking forward to seeing Sheehan in a leading role in the play Playboy of the Western World this fall! (Edit: I did in fact go see it, here is my review!)



My personal favorite character is played by Iwan Rheon, a Welsh actor/singer/musical performer. He also played my favorite character in the London cast version of Tony-award winning musical Spring Awakening two years ago, and now he's promoting his singer-songwriter music. His style is acoustic, folksy and sincere. I'm really hoping to get a chance to see him in London this fall:



Go buy his music! His EP Tongue Tied is out now on iTunes and Amazon.

Friday, June 10. 2011

Hilarious or Just Wrong? The Japanese View of the Overweight Issue

"Politically incorrect" is probably the best turn of phrase for the Japanese TV drama Rebound. I definitely can't imagine it airing in the US. But it's such a surprisingly well-done story that I'm hooked. A lot of you will know actress Chiaki Kuriyama from Kill Bill and Battle Royale who shows up here as the dark-natured, frank roommate of the main character.

Imagine this plotline. A girl is addicted to cake so much that she dreams of marrying a cake-shop owner when she grows up. She becomes overwhelmingly overweight as an adult and is dumped by her boyfriend because she's just too fat. !?? If that's not bad enough, she vows to lose weight and work at a fashion magazine, never eating cake again. But her boss (who legit fires people who are overweight) forces her into an interview with a cake-shop owner… and thus she "rebounds" into being fat again, and the vicious cycle starts all over.

What in the world!??























I burst out laughing after hearing about the plot. Can you imagine this airing in America, ever? It's almost taboo to call someone fat here. In Japan it's really not like that at all. I've had Japanese friends who were suddenly labeled as having gained weight - out loud, in public - by other friends. Their attitude toward weight is completely different than in America - more open, which can be more painful - and of course it's in some ways even worse to be overweight there since a good majority of people are just, well, naturally skinny.

As a foreigner though don't expect to ever be called out on your weight by a Japanese person (unless you marry one)… it's completely expected that foreigners are bigger, which is sad, but also it's pretty hard to get close enough to someone that they would actually tell you that.

This drama is a good, if completely ridiculous, way for me to applaud myself for not eating cake lately and the characters and relationships are interesting. It also delves into other modern issues from a Japanese perspective, like, should women work after they marry? In Japan they usually quit their jobs. It sounds sexist, and maybe it is, but very few women are doing anything to change the status quo there right now. And of course there is some good old-fashioned "it's what's on the inside that counts" too… just in a much more, shall we say, politically incorrect fashion. I really hope this series will tie up with some sort of theme about the necessity of having a healthy relationship with food itself, as well as people.

Tuesday, June 7. 2011

Twist of a Tale: Reading... People?

I have been reading/watching two things lately which delve into how to read people and their surroundings - basically analyzing, in a psycho-technical way, in order to get to the truth. Here are those two stories -- and of course any more recommendations would be appreciated!

Sherlock Holmes: Season One



This a brilliantly done modern update of the classical Sherlock Holmes story: it is fascinating in the way it displays our hero's thinking. He is an offbeat, self-proclaimed sociopath who knows how to read anything and everything about people and their surroundings, with a dose of scientific analysis mixed in. I really liked it, and loved the London locale too. The writers here absolutely hit the nail on the head with a perfect gripping yet at the same time somewhat lighthearted version of Sherlock Holmes. And a second season is coming this fall!

Watch the first episode here.



(Another series with this theme is the US crime show Lie To Me, which had a great concept and first episode but didn't keep me interested for too long.)

The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 1) by Patrick Rothfuss

This is the start of a fantasy epic about the behind-the-scenes making of a hero, with a focus on realistic descriptions of magic and love of music, people, and books. The main character here is so intelligent that the author has to really pound it into our heads that there is a good reason for it. I think Rothfuss does succeed, although I don't know if he succeeds in making us love the characters too much.

But the story (and the layered method of storytelling -- see for yourself at my Amazon review) is fascinating, and it makes liberal use of the sort of psychoanalysis I've been thinking about lately. The character is so smart and such a seasoned performer that he can quickly adapt himself to situations, affecting ticks and accents easily, and subtly manipulating people with his actions. It's a skill that was fun to read about.