Filed under: TV Shows | Tags: anna friel, cancelled shows, charlotte charles, chi mcbride, kristin chenoweth, lee pace, pushing daisies, tv on dvd, TV Shows
One of my latest vices that has kept me stark awake into the countless wee hours of the bitter night is a show I always meant to watch while it was originally airing but was never able to nail down. In my true nature, I hauled derriere to the nearest Best Buy, keen-eyed and armed with a modest gift card in order to find the program that had wearily escaped me for far too long. And there is was, gleaming in all its glory, a prize waiting to be claimed – the first season of Pushing Daisies. I scooted home, clad myself in comfies, scuttled into bed and pressed play. And thus, a new chapter began – one dripping with sweet, unfiltered imagination, brilliance of imagery, classic kitschiness, and transcendental fantasy, all tied up neatly in one clean, tidy bow. Sure, Daisies is incredibly silly, but its goofball charm is what makes it so likable – it’s operating on a realm completely its own, which makes it easy to turn a blind eye to its wacky nature.
Daisies revolves around the unexplainable magical powers of its protagonist Ned (Lee Pace) – a grown manboy with achingly sweet charm and the ability to revive the dead with the touch of his adorable finger. However, his graveyard dance comes with a hefty price tag – for every soul he brings back to life for over one minute, another person must perish (“It’s a random proximity thing.”) With the help of a pessimistic private eye with a penchant for the green, Ned hones his trade into a business, reviving murder victims in order to reap in the rewards. Through his work, Ned is happenstantially reunited with his long-lost love – a girl named Chuck (Anna Friel) that he knew as a child. However, Ned and Chuck are doomed to remain star-crossed lovers as they cannot touch, lest Chuck – who met her maker once already – kick the bucket for all eternity.
What makes this show so appealing is that it is so incredibly easy to become swept up by its sugary sweetness while still enjoying the bitter twinge of it all. Daisies is perfectly cast – Pace and Friel’s chemistry is so contagious that the audience finds themselves caught up in its clockwork, and Chi McBride (Ned’s business partner) and Kristin Chenowith (the pining and paltry waitress suffering from unrequited love) offer such hilarious and bright turns that their mark is incurably indelible. Sure, the show suffers from internal formula syndrome, and sure, it may turn a bit Scooby-Doo as the gang solves mystery after wacky mystery, but it’s all presented with such inventive writing and empathetic allure that the occasional absurdities hardly seems to matter. Sadly, however, all adorable fairy tales must come to an end, and I’m dismayed to report that Pushing Daisies is, in fact, pushing daisies – it was nixed prior to season three taping. Too bad Ned couldn’t revive this gem with the touch of a finger.
Filed under: Movie Reviews | Tags: australia, baz luhrmann, brandon walters, down under, hugh jackman, Movie Reviews, nicole kidman, thanksgiving
A great many eons ago, also known as Thanksgiving, 2008, my tiny nuclear family decided to combine forces and canter off to the local cinema in order to take in the latest of familial-friendly flicks. And thus, we agreed upon Australia, a legendarily-long saga drawn to life by the keen but clandestine mind of the eclectic Baz Luhrmann. The film, aproposly titled from its largest master, throws a supercilious British heiress (a somewhat likable Nicole Kidman) into the depths of down under on the cusp of the Second World War after her prize husband, who owned a cattle-rearing lot, is killed. Enter dreamy drover Hugh Jackman, who’s got a bit too much grit between his teeth, and let the calamity unfold. As Kidman befriends the local aborigines, learns the dangers of the desert, and promises to make good of her late husband’s secret livelihood, she grows exponentially along with the rapidly-changing country in times of peril.
The first half hour of the film is exhaustingly Luhrmann – quick shots, nauseating close-ups, and awkward slow-motion bits that charmed audiences in Moulin Rouge! and Romeo & Juliet fall flat against the backdrop of death and poverty in war. However, the movie quickly matures with its characters, and its subsequent two hours are swooping, sweet, and haunting. The story thrives on its nearly preposterously-dynamic characters, who fuel the film with fiery intensity at every turn. And somehow, it all seems to work.
Australia is far from flawless – its length is daunting, especially after the audience is placed through apparent climax after climax, nail-biter after tear-jerker, and numerous calms after many storms. Villains are created and quelled too quickly, and an exhausting amount of dangers threaten a happy ending in constant rapid succession. However, the film is powerful, both in a cinematic and empathetic sense, and the once-floppy characters truly drive home sweeping bouts of emotion. The real treat of the film, however, is not the gorgeous costumes (which received an Oscar nod), the epic battle scenes, or the A-list Hollywood royalty employed, but rather the movie’s most diminutive star – Brandon Walters – as the orphaned aborigine who ultimately wins the hearts of Kidman and Jackman. Walters, an Australian native, had never graced the silver screen prior to this flick, but his haunting depth of character makes him the film’s most apparent gem. Overall, Luhrmann’s flick is worth the viewing, though it may not be worthy of earning a spot in your collection. If nothing else, it will make covet Nicole Kidman’s wardrobe and help you pick your next vacation destination.
