Something that sometimes tends to happen with TV shows, especially when they are new, and a bit of a gamble, is that they hit what is called a Sophomore Slump. This is just a fun way of saying that their first season is great and has so much potential to turn into a viable and long lasting show, however when they head into their second season, they lose their fire.
We all know shows like this. The one that probably comes to everyone's mind is True Detective
We were all amazed and super amped when the first season came out. I mean come on, Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey! Who wouldn't be sold on the stellar cast alone? The first season was a pure masterpiece. But then like so many before it, the show took a serious turn for the worse in second season, and it hit a serious sophomore slump.
Anyway, and much more to the point, there was a show that came out of the gates sprinting, and it even aired mid season, and still was one of the best new show on TV. It's just a little show called Empire, maybe some of you have heard it.
So this show ended it's first season with a bang, literally. Everyone was just waiting to see what happens next with the notorious Lyon family. A few websites that I frequent were concerned for the sophomore season of Empire and if it would fall down the same hill that so many promising shows had done before it. However when the new season aired in late September of this year, this was not the case. Empire has been consistently in the top 10 shows, rating wise, on zap2it.com's weekly ratings list for all things TV. Here is it's ranking on the week of its season 2 premiere
So far, there has been not even of a whisper for a sophomore slump from Empire. Each week the show has churned out consistently top 10 ratings and top notch content. I for one cannot wait to see what the future of Empire holds
The other night I noticed that the movie Boogie Nights was added to Netflix. I had heard this movie was really good before, and it's by Paul Thomas Anderson, so how can it be bad. It stars Mark Wahlberg as he breaking into the "movie" industry. Anyway, a few times throughout the movie, they use these kinds of shots, like in the opening sequence when they show a good portion of the characters in a night club, or at a house party where they transfer from conversation to conversation before taking a dip in the pool. There are many other shows and movies that make use of this style well, such as in True Detective with the now famous drug raid follow shot that goes on for a solid 6-minutes, or the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode that was all one perfect follow shot for the whole episode, which was inspired by the True Detective one. It's hard not to be impressed with follow shots, whenever they show up in media. There's so much work going into it, and being able to move with the action really draws you into the scene and makes it feel all the more realistic.
I feel that each time one of the follow shots came up, it feels like they improve the feel of the scene. Plus, you have to consider all of the work that goes into making it happen: everything needs to be perfect for the an entire run. All the actors need to get their line on the first try, nothing incorrect happens in the background at any point, and also making sure that nothing that isn't supposed to be shown isn't. The point I'm trying to make is that if you ever see one, make sure to appreciate all the it manages to accomplish.
With Gravity cleaning up at the Oscars last year, Guardians of the Galaxy dominating the box office this Summer, and a new Star Wars film right around the corner, sci-fi is suddenly... kind of cool. Leave it to Christopher Nolan, however, to make it even cooler.
Interstellar, Nolan's follow-up to 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, is set to be one of the biggest films of the year - in terms of subject matter and, presumably, revenue - bar none. With a joint script - co-authored by Christopher's brother Jonathan - that's been in development since 2007 and a cast that just won't quit, here's my personal top five reasons why Interstellar just might be the best movie of the year.
Just in case you've literally been living under a rock for the past year, sci-fi isn't the only thing that's cool again: so is Matthew McConaughey. With an almost perfect triad of movies under his belt from 2013 - Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street, and his Oscar-winning performance in Dallas Buyer's Club - not to mention 2014's near perfect HBO series True Detective, McConaughey has the chance to blow us all out of the water once again. From the extremely limited amount that we know about the film, McConaughey will be playing Cooper, an astronaut/father who is forced to leave Earth in search of a new home for his kids/the rest of humanity. As Detective Rust Cohle would say: alright alright alright. Wait. No. Wrong character.
2. This is some of the promotional art for the film:
It's beautiful and subtle and everything you would expect to see from a film about the endless possibilities of space. And it basically taps into that unrefined subconscious area of anybody who dreamed of being an astronaut when they were a kid (which was pretty much everyone, right?) I couldn't find who designed the posters, but it's better than about 95% of what studios think are smart ideas for posters these days, including this little gem.
3. The Script is Super Secretive (and Hans Zimmer is composing)
Alright so that's technically two reasons. Nolan, already notorious for keeping his scripts under wraps, has been more tight-lipped than ever before about the Interstellar script. So tight-lipped, in fact, that he wouldn't even give the script to his long time collaborator, Hans Zimmer. According to Variety, Nolan gave Zimmer a one page sheet of text - that gave no hints about the film whatsoever - and told him to base the score off of that. Zimmer said that "the page had more to do with my story than the plot of the film. He knows how to get under my skin." The score will also be a step in a new direction for the duo, who have reportedly decided to scrap their loud, stringy, booming bass noises for something a little more different.
4. The Film will Actually be Shown on Film
For it's limited release in North America (in approximately 240 theaters) Interstellar will be projected in 70mm and 35mm formats, alongside the 70mm imax projections in at least 40 locations. The film is an exception to Paramount Studios initiative to stop releasing movies on traditional film stock as opposed to digitally. Filmmakers like Nolan, J.J. Abrams, and Quentin Tarantino have all stepped forward in defense of classic film stock, even though it's becoming less and less common - and practical - for theaters.
5. This is the full cast list:
Right here. Enjoy. Not to mention the actual plot, which has something to do with black holes and Matty McCons saving the world/ looking great in a
space suit. I've heard rumors - TOTAL RUMOR RIGHT HERE, TAKE IT WITH THE BIGGEST GRAIN OF SALT YOU CAN FIND - that the trailers don't even show footage from the second half of the movie, which, by the way has an incredibly long and exciting running time of 169 minutes. Yes, your butt will be sore, but so will your brain. In a good way. Hopefully. Here's a trailer if you're so inclined.
In the contemporary age of Hollywood, where Michael Bay's average shot length is a measly 3 seconds and the general average is only a second or two longer, it's really refreshing to see a film or TV show that has an appreciation for the long take. Obviously, Alfonso Cuaron is the first director that comes to mind - at least in this day and age - for his incredibly long takes in both Children of Men and the more recent Gravity (7 mins and 17 minutes, respectively). Also headline-worthy was Cary Fukunaga's elaborately choreographed 6 minute True Detective shot, featuring Matthew McConaughey bursting through houses and just generally kicking ass in one of the coolest TV scenes of the year.
Long takes don't have to be all violence and space-floating, though. In fact, some of the more iconic long shots are during simple (albeit equally well-choreographed) sequences. Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 thriller Rope took place in real time and was edited to appear as one extremely long take, even though it was made up of only 10 separate shots. One of the bi
ggest reasons that filmmakers use long takes is to provide exactly this sense of real time, whether to create suspense or to add an extra element of realism to a film. Cutting from shot to shot can sometimes take away these elements and can create a less fluid experience.
One man who makes statements with long takes is Louis C.K. Going into the fourth season of his TV series 'Louie', FX has allowed him even more freedom in regards to his creative process, and he certainly took advantage of it. Forrest Wickman, a staff writer for Slate, went so far as to call Louie "the most cinematic show on TV." (read the whole article, which I'll elaborate on further, here)
C.K., for whatever reason, loves long takes. In fact, the third episode of the most recent season ended with a shot that lasted an incredible seven and a half minutes. This isn't HBO. This isn't even an hour long drama we're talking about. This a low budget comedy on FX. A seven and a half minute shot equates to almost a full act of the story, which means that almost the whole thing is bookended by commercials. That's a big chunk of TV. The shot in question is nothing particularly special. No fights, no guns, no exploding space stations, just Louie doing what he does best: going on an awkward date and the raw, brutally honest, and beautiful conversation that ensues. People love to throw around the phrase "it's like nothing else on television," but this is literally like nothing else you will find on television, let alone in any hollywood films.
Louis - the real Louis, not the character - uses these long takes to create an atmosphere of real, honest, everyday life. It can be awkward, sure, but it can also be close and familial (see the living room scene with Louie's two daughters and then-girlfriend Amia), odd and unexpected (a model drives up to Louie and tells him to get in her car), and beautiful and special (Louie's daughter plays the violin). C.K. has proven himself to not only be one of the funniest comedians alive today, but also one of the most adept directors and showrunners on television. Not to mention the most cinematic.
