Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 82: 'Torchwood: Miracle Day,' 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' & more
Alan and Dan also break down the 'Treme' season finale, talk 'Twin Peaks' and answer your mail
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Dan was traveling back from Canada in the early part of the week, so the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast makes a temporary Wednesday return, and a fairly busy one, as we discuss "Torchwood: Miracle Day," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the "Treme" finale, a new "Twin Peaks" and answer several letters. The run-down:
"Torchwood: Miracle Day" -- 2:05 - 16:05
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" -- 16:05 - 24:25
"Treme" finale -- 24:30 - 51:30
Listener Mail: "Buffy" Big Bads -- 51:30 - 59:25
Listener Mail: Movie actors on TV -- 59:30 - 01:12:20
James Spader on "The Office" -- 01:12:30 - 01:16:30
"Twin Peaks" -- 01:16:50 - 01:30:00
As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. Or you can always follow our RSS Feed, download the MP3 file or stream it on Dan's blog.
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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July 6, 2011 at 5:43PM EST Reply to CommentWhat about Thin Red Line for a good Jim Caviezel performance?
dan Ryan - As with all actors in all Terrence Malick movies, Caviezel is a well utilized prop in "Thin Red Line."
July 6, 2011 at 5:46PM EST-Daniel
MicGuar Wow, Dan, I really feel you are not giving the actors in Malick's films a fair shake. Certainly the performances themselves are less important to the films than the atmosphere that Malick's direction creates, but to compare them to props?
July 8, 2011 at 2:59PM ESTWhat Q'orianka Kilcher did in "The New World" wasn't being a prop. What Brad Pitt does in "The Tree of Life" isn't being a prop. It's acting in service to the film. And Jim Caviezel is no exception.
Malick himself would seem to disagree with you. By all accounts, in the editing process for "The Thin Red Line", the director was so impressed by Caviezel's work that he decided to focus the movie on Pvt. Witt.
It really bothers me when critics or film aficionados focus so much on a visionary director, like a Malick or a Kubrick, while giving the actors a short shrift. I suppose discussing the various aspects of direction (image, sound, pacing) is easier than discussing the more intangible qualities of good acting.
dan MICGUAR - To clarify: Being a well-utilized prop isn't *not* acting. It does, however, mean that in a Terrence Malick film, you're often subservient to Malick's fascination with a blade of grass or his preference for that shot where the sunset was *just* right over that other shot in which your performance was just right. I don't use performances in Terrence Malick films as guide-posts for how well an actor in said film would perform elsewhere. What Q'orianka Kilcher did in "The New World" was *definitely* a fine performance integrated within the world of "The New World." But under no circumstance would I ever look at that film and that performance and think I could project what any future Q'orianka Kilcher performance would look like or feel like. Any future Q'orianka Kilcher performance will be completely its own thing, for better or for worse, just as her "The New World" performance is its own thing. So I would never point to "The Thin Red Line" and expect that whatever Jim Caviezel did or didn't do in that film would be replicated any place else.
July 8, 2011 at 3:16PM EST-Daniel
MicGuar Thanks for clarifying, Dan. I'd agree with you that the purpose of acting in a Malick film is different from the acting in just about any other movie, so it has to be judged on a different scale, especially when dealing with a network TV procedural. And to be fair, I've never seen Jim Caviezel in anything else (or Kilcher for that matter), so I can't judge him based on a body of work. Still, I think that you should use the word "prop" more warily. It sounds like an insult, even if you didn't mean it as such, which I can see you didn't.
July 8, 2011 at 5:29PM ESTnic919
July 6, 2011 at 6:32PM EST Reply to CommentI think that Dan's proposed story arc for the next season of Castle, while derivative, will still be far more ground-breaking than whatever the Castle writers actually come up with.
July 6, 2011 at 10:10PM EST
July 6, 2011 at 11:55PM ESTJace Lacob
July 6, 2011 at 8:24PM EST Reply to CommentOooooh! The screeners for Weekend at Bernie's 3 and 4 have turned up on my doorstep!
jmr1948
July 6, 2011 at 8:29PM EST Reply to CommentTwo points:
1) I love Treme. To me, this is the continuation of the institutional analysis of The Wire, moving along to art and creativity, and the role of artists and creative people in our culture. Of course, this is localized in an eccentric place, New Orleans, in so many ways deviant from the dominant American culture. Mardi Gras and Jazzfest and many other moments were expressions of all that I (and I suspect David Simon) love about America: multicultural, improvisational, creative. In its strange way, Treme is ultimately optimistic in a way that mirrors the pessimism of The Wire.
2) Buffy (OK, along with The Sopranos) is the show that transformed TV and ushered in the present Golden Age (now almost exclusively on cable). And the great turning point was when Angel went bad. I love the way that plays out in Season Two. At the time, it was really revolutionary. Season Three was, of course, also great. Faith and the Mayor continued the same high level of tragic drama put in the context of teenage angst. It's essential to track the continuation of the Faith arc on the series Angel. Joss Whedon was ahead of his time; it was some great stuff in the most surprising of places.
It's back!
July 7, 2011 at 10:05AM EST Reply to Comment"uhb-ZURD!"
chuckie
July 7, 2011 at 11:02AM EST Reply to CommentI agree entirely with Dan regarding Treme. This season was no where near as strong as season 1. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season, even with the diatribes. Yes, they grew a bit tiresome, but they seemed organic to the characters who delivered them, both of whom are (or were) blowhards. My biggest concern was that the show seemed complete at the end of season 1. The characters' arcs were resolved, and I could not think of anything more that Simon could do that would be interesting. Simon apparently couldn't think of much either.
If season 1 was organic, season 2 was arbitrary. Dan hit most of the problems in the podcast. But also, Simon seemed to drag plot lines out to meet artificial deadlines. So Toni and Sofia had to stay blind to each other until Mardi Gras. Jeannette could not have the opportunity to return to New Orleans until the end of the season. There was nothing organic to either of these; you knew watching them that Simon had chosen dates or episode numbers where he wanted these things to occur, so that when they happened. Even the dread accompanying a Pelecanos episode is artificial. There is nothing in the show itself to suggest something bad will happen. But we feel dread anyway because Pelecanos wrote it, and we know he always kills a character.
And, by the way, how many thousands of TV shows and movies have featured a female actress delivering the line: "What . . . is . . . HE . . . doing . . . out . . . of . . . jail?!?!?"
Overall, Dan is right. It's still a show I like watching, and I'm glad to have it around. But this season was a mixed bag.
bjkrautk
July 7, 2011 at 1:48PM EST Reply to CommentThe notion that the Makers of Leonard Part 6 "skipped right to the good one" may be the funniest thing I've heard all week. If only I had a pocket spy-cam to preserve the moment.
That being said, put me down for the Dark Castle season they set up in the finale, rather than the Castleus arc predicted in the podcast.
odessasteps
July 7, 2011 at 4:50PM EST Reply to CommentNice to learn that Dan is in the camp with me of Liking Curb and Hating Seinfeld.
Of course, he doesn't like Dr Who, so it guess it's more like we share Venn Diagrams and not camps.
July 7, 2011 at 10:04PM EST Reply to CommentI remember COunt of monte crisco not.being horrible.
Elevation
July 11, 2011 at 12:29PM EST Reply to CommentTreme is terrible. If it wasn't for David Simon, nobody would be watching it. The lack of a substantive over-arching plot got old about halfway through season 1. I like when something actually happens in my tv shows.